A Rose in the Stars
by EchoGirl319
Summary: When Akiza gives birth, she leaves Domino, leaving the child to be raised by her father. Years later, Destiny Fudo desires one thing above all else - a mother, and when an old foe returns and wants Destiny, will it reunite her estranged parents?
1. A Monster can Never be a Mother

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Prologue**

Akiza sat, trembling uncontrollable, in the sparkling white hospitable bed, her newborn daughter cradled in her arms. Everything was white here – too white. It was making her nauseous; she was the _Black _Rose, after all. Her almond gaze turned back to the little girl nestled comfortably in her embrace, deep in sleep. One thought raged consistently through Akiza's mind.

_I can't do this, I can't do this._

She hung her head shamefully, she couldn't do this. She was a monster, and monsters couldn't be mothers. It just didn't work that way.

She was afraid, she admitted, more afraid than she had ever been before; even more than when Sayer died, even more than when she first discovered her psychic abilities. When she had discovered that she was pregnant she hid away for months and wouldn't talk to anyone, not even to Yusei or her parents – well, it was kinda Yusei's fault that she was in this situation in the first place: sure they loved each other and all and had been dating for almost two years, but _this _reached a whole new level.

"I can't do this, I can't do this," I whispered as tears began to leak down her face. What could she do? She was nineteen, for pity's sake! This wasn't suppose to happen, not yet!

She snorted at the thought; she could save the world and do crazy stunts Duel Runner but children? Nu-uh, no way. Even Luna and Leo were a challenge for her and they were both almost fourteen now! So a newborn, _her _newborn? If only this where happening five years from now, but no, it just _had _to happen now.

Her crying increased, and her body shook with silent sobs. She watched as a tear trickled off her face and landed on the cheek of the still sleeping infant in her arms. Akiza gave a tiny gasp as the tiny baby yawned widely and very slowly, its eyes fluttered open.

Akiza felt her heart shatter as she looked into her daughter's eyes, Yusei's eyes. But they were catlike, like hers. A perfect mixture: the exact same shape as hers and the exact same colour – deep sapphire – as her father's, and shining with the exact same intensity, as if they were staring into her soul, reading it. Hesitantly, Akiza stroked the baby's soft raven black hair, streaked with magenta. She lowered her head until she was level with the baby and, for the first time since the birth, sobbed audible, the tears sliding off her face. A tiny hand reached up and touched her cheek, catching a tear as it fell. Akiza gasped and pulled away, staring in wonderment at the little girl who was still staring up at her with those enchanting sapphire eyes.

_So much like her father._ Her mind echoed distantly. Then it clicked. Her _father! _Of course! She couldn't raise a child, but Yusei could! It all made sense now, Yusei would raise their daughter and she… she… it would be better for everyone if she just disappeared. She swung out of the bland white hospital bed, slightly unsteady on her feet, and found her clothes tossed over the foot of the bed. She gently put her daughter into the crib and hastily changed, not caring if anyone else saw. She found a long hooded jacket and threw it on, she didn't want anyone to recognise and it was raining outside anyway. She then gathered the infant into her arms, tucking beneath the heavy coat, and headed for the exit. Wherever that was. Her Duel Runner was just outside.

_In Yusei, Jack and Crow's Apartment, on the other side of New Domino_

That Yusei was worried was an understatement. He hadn't seen, heard or spoken to Akiza in over seven months. Hell, no one had, not even her parents.

"Yusei, will you quit pacing!" Jack yelled irritably from the sofa, "it's really getting on my nerves!"

The fact that Jack had his back to Yusei and was actually staring at the TV screen made no apparent difference. He claimed that he could see him "walking up and down the room like an idiot for the past seven months" in the reflection.

"Ugh," Yusei muttered, flopping down beside Crow, "what could've happened to her?"

Both Jack and Crow turned to look at him: Jack's cold amethyst eyes shining with irritation and Crow's with understanding – he had lost people he loved too.

"She's probably fine, Yusei," Crow comforted, "I mean it's not like she died or anything…" Yusei's face instantly hardened and Crow could tell that it was the wrong thing to say. "I mean, she and her folks probably just moved out of town."

"Her parents are still here, and they haven't heard anything from her either," Yusei murmured. "I'm worried about her."

Jack frowned, since when had Yusei become such an emotion-expressing idiot?

"Maybe she's on vacation?" Crow suggested.

Jack put his drink down and turned to stare at Crow. "Crow," he said slowly, "who goes on vacation for seven months straight? Answer: NO ONE!"

"Someone might!" Crow retaliated.

At that moment the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Yusei said, thankful to get away from his friends' bickering. He passed through the garage space where their Duel Runners where stored and climbed the steps to the door. He opened it just in time to see a Duel Runner speed off into the night, it looked familiar but he couldn't tell due to the pounding rain.

It was then that he heard it. A baby's cry. He looked down, and there wrapped in a blanket was a infant lying on his doorstep. Hesitantly, he bent down to pick it up. He brought the child up to his level and stared at it. Blue eyes stared back. _His _eyes.

Yusei gasped in shock and stumbled backwards, almost dropping the baby-with-his-eyes in the process. A letter fell out from the blanket. Shifting the baby so he was holding it with one arm, he reached for the letter. He unfolded it and began to read.

_Yusei,_

_I'm sorry I disappeared for all those months without telling you, or anybody else, but you have to understand how scared I was. If you want to know why I was gone, you're probably holding the reason in your arms right now; and yes, she's ours._

_You must understand that I can't raise her. I'm a monster, no matter how many times you tell me otherwise I know it's true, and monsters cannot be mothers. I'm begging you to raise her with all the love and affection that you feel for me, and that I feel for both of you. Please. She was created in love and I want you to know that that love still stands strong. Since I cannot, please raise her with enough love for both of us. This is my last request of you._

_I named her Destiny, as I know she has a great one ahead of her. She will be everything we have ever strived to be. I know she will._

_I just want you to know that its not your fault I'm doing this. I will always love you. And Destiny._

_Until meet again,_

_Akiza_

Yusei blinked. Once. Twice. Then stood still in the rain, still holding Destiny, before finally crumpling the letter in his hand and heading back inside, his mind numb from information overload. He was a _father?_

As he entered the living room Crow and Jack turned to him, they had stopped fighting.

"What was that all ab–" Jack broke off has he caught sight of Destiny in Yusei's arms, his eyes going impossibly wide – a sight that would have been comical were the occupants in the room not all staring at the baby girl in Yusei's arms. "You have got to be kidding me."


	2. Destiny Fudo

EchoGirl: Oopsies, forgot the disclaimer on the last chapter… my bad…

**Goldfish: Your bad indeed.**

**EchoGirl: I know what you're planning Goldfish. And quit staring!**

**Goldfish: Damn it!**

**EchoGirl: So, who wants to do the disclaimer?**

**(All Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters slip into the shadows)**

**EchoGirl: Damn it! Goldfish?**

**(Goldfish produces a knife out of the water and points it at EchoGirl)**

**EchoGirl: Fine then, weird homicidal goldfish who won't stop staring, I'll do it myself. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**Goldfish: There, not so hard was it?**

**EchoGirl: Shut up.**

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**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 1**

_13 years later_

It was raining in New Domino City. It had been doing that a lot lately. Looking up at the sky, thirteen-year-old Destiny Fudo sighed and wrapped her father's dark blue jacket tighter around herself.

"You do realise, that you're getting awful wet out there, don't you?" an amused voice asked from behind her.

"I know, Dad," she replied, not turning around, but smiling as she felt two hands on her shoulders. She leaned her head against his chest as she watched the sky, the rain falling onto the face.

"What are you thinking about, Destiny?" her father asked, squeezing her shoulders gently. Destiny twisted her head so as she could see his face: he was staring up at the sky, the full moon reflecting in his sapphire eyes. She smiled as she snuggled into his embrace pressing her cold, wet body against his warm one. It had become a habit for the them, staring up at the sky at night; it gave her a sense of peace, just her and her father. It also allowed her to imagine that somewhere, miles away, _she _might be doing the same thing.

Of course, this was easier when it wasn't raining.

"Do you think that she's out there somewhere," Destiny asked, gesturing to the night sky, "doing the same thing as us? Just watching the sky?" _Thinking of us? _She wanted to ask.

"Maybe, Destiny. You never know," Yusei replied, turning her around so she faced him, and crouching down so as his face was in line with hers "she just might be."

She knew that he answering her unspoken question, her father always seemed to have a way of reading people. Suddenly, she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him. "I love you, Dad," she spoke quietly into his shoulder.

"I know," her father replied, stroking her long magenta-streaked black hair, now slick and heavy with rainwater. "And I you, Destiny. Now," he told her, slipping his jacket off of her shoulders, "to bed. You've got a busy day tomorrow."

Destiny rolled her eyes but complied to her father's wishes, "Yes, Dad."

Yusei watched as she slipped back inside, smiling sadly as he watched her go. Once she was gone he turned his gaze back to the clearing sky. The rain had stopped, and the stars were peeking through the gaps in the clouds.

"Oh, Akiza," he murmured, "wherever you are, I wish you could see our daughter now."

What Yusei didn't notice was a pair of bright blue eyes – identical to his own – watching him through the slightly open door.

_Mom, _Destiny whispered mentally, _why did you go? I need you. Dad's so sad without you. Please, Mom, why did you have to go?_

* * *

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, a magenta haired woman stands on a balcony overlooking the ocean and watches the stars. Ignoring the party taking place inside.

"Yusei…" she whispered to the midnight sky, "Destiny…"

Images of all the people she knew back in Japan flashed through her mind: Yusei, Destiny, Jack, Crow, the twins, her parents. Hell, she even sees the long-dead Sayer and Rex Goodwin and all the Dark Signers. Her gaze passes to the Back Claw of Crimson Dragon on her forearm, all evidence of the reckless teenager she once was.

"Hey, Aki!" a voice calling her brought a swift end to her musing and she swivelled round to see a woman approaching her, cocktail glass in hand, her face flushed from alcohol consumption. "Why don't you come back inside? It's a real party!"

"No thanks, Jenna," she told the woman, reluctant to join the festivities. She also didn't want to think about what people had been dumping in the drinks. Her alcohol endurance was low at best.

"Come on, you'll have fun," Jenna stumbled towards her, spilling half her cocktail in the process.

"I'm fine, really." She insisted, taking a step back from the clearly drunk woman.

"At least have a drink," Jenna held out her cocktail to the magenta haired woman, who pushed it away and shook her head.

"That thing's probably been spiked at least four times."

"Look, Akiza," Jenna took a step forward, her face a mask of mock seriousness, "you need to have some fun. You never have fun. You just stare at the sky like someone's up there. You talk to it, which is weird, no offence. Parties are fun. Come inside and have some fun. Get drunk. Meet a guy. Get laid."

Akiza blushed bright red at the woman's suggestion. Like _that _was going to happen. "You're drunk," she stated bluntly.

"Sure am," Jenna replied moments before passing out.

"Right," Akiza murmured, grabbing her bag and stepping over her friend's unconscious form. _Someone _was definitely going to be having a hangover tomorrow.

* * *

**Love it? Hate it? You tell me.**

**Anyways, I know you haven't seen that much of the other characters yet (Jack, Crow, Luna, Leo, etc) but I'm gonna put some more of them in the next chapter and they'll pop up quite a lot later.** **I'm also gonna focus some more on Yusei and Akiza and how they feel about Destiny and about being apart.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**EchoGirl**


	3. The Gang

**EchoGirl: Whoo! Chapter 2 is up! Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed and thanks for all your great comments! Oh, and RedCrimson, I think I will give Destiny her own signature card but I really can't decide what sort of monster it should be - I was thinking maybe a dragon but a really have no idea; so anyone with a suggestion for Destiny's Ace Monster, I'm all ears! Hit it, Goldie!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. At least not in real life.**

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A Rose in the Stars

**Chapter 2**

"Daaaad?" Destiny Fudo asked her father, Yusei, as he was working on a broken duel disk, shovelling cereal into her mouth.

"Yes, Destiny?" he asked, not looking up from his work, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Can I take the duel runner to the academy today?"

His eyebrows shot up, and he lifted his head to look at her. "Destiny, you're thirteen. It's _illegal."_

"So?" Destiny shrugged in response, "you let me ride it during the summer."

"That's different. Besides, do you remember what happened last time you were caught riding my runner?" Yusei reminded her.

"That time that Officer Trudge threw a hissy fit and Jake and I almost got arrested and it took all of my fabulous negotiating skills to get us out of it? Yeah, I remember."

"Exactly why you're not taking the runner to the academy."

Destiny grumbled at this response, "I bet Jake's taking a runner to the academy."

Yusei chuckled, "last I recall, there's only _one _duel runner in Jake's family and I think Jack would have a rage induced heart attack if he discovered that his son crashed the _Wheel of Fortune_."

_That _definitely wasn't difficult to picture, Destiny snorted. "Understatement of the century."

Yusei turned his attention back to the duel disk, a smirk still playing on his lips. "Hurry up now, or you'll be late."

Destiny rolled her eyes, but finished her cereal and put the empty bowl in the sink before fetching her crimson Duel Academy girls' blazer from the coat stand and slipping it on. Next, she grabbed her bag and duel disk from the foot of the stairs. She re-entered the kitchen.

"Dad, have you seen my deck?"

"Counter." Yusei replied, examining the now fixed duel disk in his hands before turning to his daughter, who was slipping her cards into the breast pocket of her blazer. "Can you give this to Chris for me?" he asked, "and tell him to be more careful next time."

"Sure thing," she replied, taking the duel disk and dropping it unceremoniously into her black messenger bag before sliding her own duel disk – similar in style to that of her father's – onto her left arm and adjusting it so as it rested comfortably.

"Have a nice day," Yusei told her.

"Will do. Oh, by the way, I'm probably going round to Jake's tonight so should I –"

"I'll pick you up from there," Yusei interrupted, and Destiny grinned at him.

"Awesome. See you then!" and with that Destiny speeded out of the house, her long raven hair streaming out behind her.

Yusei shook his head in amusement, sometimes it seemed that Destiny had even more energy than Leo did at her age, if that were even possible.

* * *

Destiny looked up as she approached the gates of Duel Academy, the wind whipping her hair across her face, partially obscuring her view. It was her third year at the academy now. Apparently her mother used to attend here. Was she any good? Top of her class, just like Destiny was?

"Hey, Destiny." A voice behind her interrupted her musing. She turned to the tall blonde boy now standing beside her.

"Hey, Jake."

He looked down at her, his violet gaze questioning. She hated it when he did that. It irritated her to no end that he was taller than her, despite being a year her junior. She only went up to his nose and she could tell that by the time they were adults, he would overtake her by an entire head. If only he had inherited his mother's height! She could swear that whenever she looked at Jake that Jack Atlas had had himself cloned.

"Is there a reason that you're standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking like an idiot, staring at the Duel Academy gates?"

And if only he hadn't picked up his father's _excellent _conversation skills. _This _is why _she _was the one to talk them out of getting arrested.

She sighed and tugged at his sleeve, "no. Now let's go find Chris and Mark."

Jake complied and the two friends walked side by side through the gates and into the Duel Academy grounds. They found the object of their search not two minutes later: two boys with identical features – pale blue-grey hair and eyes – sitting, back to back, on the steps leading up to the academy building. Chis and Mark Kessler.

"Hey, guys," Destiny greeted as the duo scrambled to their feet and made their way over to her and Jake.

"Hi," they returned the greeting. Chris and Mark Kessler were thirteen-year-old identical twins, the sons of Kalin and Louisa Kessler. They had moved to Domino from some village nine years ago – Kalin was apparently an old friend of her father's and had been in a gang with him, Jack and Crow when they were in their teens during the time when New Domino and the Satellite had been separate. Both where good friends and exceptional duelists. And both where taller than her.

Was it her curse to be so much shorter than all her male friends?

Jake smirked at the duo. "I almost thought you'd skip today."

"Ach," Chris motioned with his hand, "can't play hookie on the first day back."

"Nothing stopped you last year," Destiny reminded them.

"Yeah," Mark muttered, "except three weeks of detention."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Come on guys, classes are going to start in ten minutes."

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, I hope you guys liked it. It's a little bit shorter than my other chapter but what the heck? Yeah, you're probably all wondering "hey what about Crow's kids?" they're coming in the next chapter, just so you know. I'm not mean enough to leave Crow out. So, anyway, R+R please!**


	4. A Day at Duel Academy

**EchoGirl: Hey guys, Chapter 3 is now up! I took your advice and made this chapter longer. Anyway it's like midnight right now so Goldfish is either asleep or plotting world domination so I just have to do the disclaimer myself. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

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**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 3**

"Hey, guys," Mark addressed the group as they entered the Duel Academy foyer, the three other duelists turning to face him, their gazes questioning. "Isn't Vanessa enrolling today?"

"Yeah, she was," Destiny realised, "I think Uncle Crow was going to walk her here today."

"Already here," a voice spoke up from behind them. The ganged turned to see a short man with bright spiky orange hair approaching them, a young girl with the exact same carrot-resembling hair, walking beside him.

"Destiny!" the girl exclaimed suddenly, jogging over to the thirteen-year-old and jumping up and down excitedly, words streaming out of her mouth faster than anyone could even attempt to understand. "!"

**(Translation: Can you believe it, Destiny? I'm starting at Duel Academy today! It's going to be so much fun, I'm so excited!")**

_Yeah, I'm just gonna pretend that I have a clue about what she just said, _Destiny decided. "That's really–" Destiny began but was interrupted by Jake.

"Okay, I have no idea what you just said, and please don't bother repeating it for me because I really don't care. And also cool the excitement and jumping around-iness for a second, will ya?"

Crow rolled his eyes, "you really did inherit your father's conversation skills, Jake."

Jake huffed as the ginger haired girl suddenly tugged on his blazer. "Whoa, Jake," she exclaimed, "this uniform looks really weird on you. It doesn't suit you at all."

**(AN: Try to imagine Jack Atlas in one of those Academy uniforms. I tried and it just didn't work. Nu-uh.)**

"Tell me about it," Jack complained, examining the blue sleeve, "I really don't understand why I even have to. I mean, I'm Jake Atlas, I shouldn't be made to wear this sh–"

"Oh, put a sock in it, Jack," Destiny interrupted, smacking his arm lightly, "you look fine."

Crow loudly at their antics, reminded of his teenage years in the Satellite and as Signer. They were all so much like them when they were young…

"**JAKE!" **a sudden scream threw redhead out of his musings and he couldn't but snigger as he saw a tall, young blonde latch onto the boy's shoulder. _Definitely _just like the old days. He evidently wasn't alone in his amusement as he saw Mark whisper to his companions.

"And the fan girls are right on cue."

Chris smirked at his twin's statement while Vanessa giggled softly. Destiny just looked irritated. Now _this _was interesting.

"Chania," Jake said, looking down at the blonde, "do you mind not sticking to me like Velcro for everyday of the school year?"

The girl let go instantly and began to smooth out invisible creases in her skirt instead. She smiled at him, eyelids batting, her long lashes coated in mountains mascara. More than Destiny thought was possible. "Sorry."

Jake raised an eyebrow at her, something which Chania took to be a good sign and so she proceeded to ask him if he would join her for lunch, which he promptly declined. Destiny smirked; she obviously didn't know Jake at all.

"Well," Crow spoke up, "I'll leave you lot to your lessons. Oh, and Destiny?"

"Yes?" Destiny asked.

"I don't trust the boys so I'm relying on you to watch over Nessie for me." He winked at her. "You're the only one of this lot who's actually got some sense in that brain."

"Hey!" Jake, Chris and Mark exclaimed in unison, faking offence at Crow's joke while Vanessa's response was more along the lines of "Dad, I'm at school, I don't need babysitting!"

"Sure thing, Uncle Crow," Destiny grinned, giving him a thumbs-up. Crow smiled in response and bent down to give Vanessa a peck on the forehead before jogging back the way he came.

Destiny returned her gaze to her now four companion, letting her eyes skim over all of them before finally resting on Vanessa, who was chewing her lip in anticipation. Finally! Someone who didn't tower above her!

"So," Vanessa began, uncertainty creeping into her voice now that her father had left, "now what?"

"Now you have class," a female voice stated from behind Destiny.

"Auntie Luna!" Vanessa exclaimed, lunging at the twenty-seven-year-old.

"Hey, Ness," the azure haired woman greeted as the ten-year-old wrapped her arms around her waist. While her brother had decided to try his hand at the Junior Leagues, Luna had instead decided to remain as a teacher at Duel Academy and teach the students about Duel Spirits and the heart of the cards, despite the fact that only a select few can actually _see_ duel spirits. Destiny and Luna were among that few, though it was only thanks to Destiny's psychic abilities that she could see them. Her powers in that area were not nearly as advanced as that of the youngest Signer – who could even enter the Spirit World.

"Hey, Aunt Luna," Destiny greeted, smiling.

"Hey, guys," Luna greeted the rest of the group before turning her attention back to Crow's daughter, "can I see your schedule, Vanessa?"

"Sure," Vanessa replied, dropping her backpack and rummaging through it before presenting a very creased and folded up piece of paper to Luna. Something akin to coffee had been split on it. Hesitantly, Luna took the crumpled schedule from the young redhead and unfolded it carefully. She didn't mind the mess too much – after living with Leo for over twenty years you kind of got used to it.

"Looks like you've got your first class with me, Ness." She glanced at Destiny, Jake, Chris and Mark. "You guys are all together for theory first, right?"

Chris nodded, his long-ish pale blue hair falling into his eyes. "Yeah, we do. Then we've got some thing on the mechanics of Duel Runners. I mean, what's the point in that? We're not even allowed to turbo duel for, like, another three years."

"I turbo duel," Destiny said, "so does Jake."

"Yeah," Mark responded, "but not legally. Plus, what happened the last time you got caught turbo duelling?"

Destiny rolled her eyes. "I already had this conversation with my dad this morning. Will anyone ever get over that? Plus, Jake was there too." She glared pointedly at the blond in question.

"Come on," Jake told them, "let's go to class."

* * *

A few minutes later Destiny, Jake, Chris and Mark were all entering the classroom for Duelling Theory. Today, they were apparently going to be studying Trap Cards and Syncro Summons. Destiny wasn't particular keen on these lessons, she preferred to learn from experience. Plus her father had already taught her practically everything she needed to know.

There was a collective sigh from all the females in the class as Jake entered the room and Destiny groaned inwardly. Seriously, what was with these girls and their obsession with Jake Atlas? Apparently Uncle Jack had had the same problem. Even after he lost his championship title. Well, they were both rather attractive with their golden hair and deep, violet eyes…

Wait. Hold up. What the _hell_ was she _thinking? _He was her best friend, nothing more. She groaned and hung her head – she hoped that these weren't those dreaded teenage hormones that she'd been hearing so much about.

"Do you have a headache or something?" Jake asked from beside her.

"No," she replied, shaking her head, "I'm fine."

Meanwhile, Chris and Mark on the other hand were stuck wondering why Jake attracted so many girls and they didn't. And Jake was younger than they were! Apparently Jack had been jealous that Yusei and Kalin's children were able to enrole in the Academy a year before Jake was so he had twiddled around with his son's birth certificate before presenting to the school and announcing that Jake was an eleven-year-old when he was in fact only ten. The cheat.

But the weird thing was, Jake didn't seem interested in any of the girls who practically fell over themselves to get his attention, but apparently his father had acted much the same way – at least until he had met Jake's mother. Apparently they had met really awkwardly as well. Maybe Jake was just waiting for the right girl. Or maybe he had already found her. Or maybe his sexual orientations just didn't bend that way.

_Whoa, _Mark thought as he considered this option, _that's disturbing._

_

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Later, during free period, Vanessa met up with her older friends and the five of them began to slowly walk towards the duelling arena. There were usually some interesting duels going on around this time. Jake couldn't help but roll his eyes as some more girls swooned at him on their way there. At least for him it was just Duel Academy, but his father had once been a Duel Monsters champion. How he dealt with _that _amount of popularity and prying female – and occasionally male – eyes. He doubted he had the endurance to survive that.

He kept his eyes on Destiny as she walked in front of him, admiring the way her long crimson-streaked raven hair swished behind her as she moved. He heard Mark and Chris immersed in quiet conversation with Vanessa behind him. Not that he particularly cared; he was satisfied with the silence.

All of a sudden he felt a familiar weight on his arm dragging him down.

_Oh, please not her again,_ he begged mentally as he looked down. And there she was, hanging onto his left arm, leaning all her weight on it. Stuck to him like Velcro.

"Chania," he sighed. At this Destiny spun around to face them and Vanessa's conversation with the Kessler twins ceased immediately.

"What're you lot looking at?" Chania snapped at the rest of the gang, though her glare was clearly directed at Destiny. Jake particularly despised territorial women. They were incredibly irritating, according to his father at least. He didn't really have experience in such matters. He was only twelve after all, well, almost thirteen but still. He shrugged his arm out of Chania's iron grip.

"You," Destiny replied honestly.

"Well then, quit it! It's freaking me out!" She was obviously paranoid as well. Jake's list of reasons to dislike Chania just kept getting longer and longer.

Destiny merely raised an eyebrow. Chania frowned before turning back to Jake, trying to hook her arm once again into his. He avoided her attempt and instead gave her a cold, hard glare that would make his father proud. But, damn, Chania was one stubborn girl.

"Wanna watch the duels with me?" she asked, her voice sugary sweet.

"No." He replied coldly.

"Why not?"

"Because," he glanced at the arena, "no one's dueling."

"Oh…" Chania blushed bright red in embarrassment. "We could go get something to eat…?"

By this point in time, Destiny had had enough of Chania's flirting. The girl might be pretty – beautiful even, with her long blonde hair and brown eyes and tall, lanky frame –, rich and have all the latest trends but it was apparent that she was not in the possession of a brain.

"Look, Chania," she began, her voice bubbling with barely suppressed raged, "Jake doesn't like you. Never has. Never will. Get that into your head! He doesn't want to eat with you, or watch duel's with you so beat it!"

For several moments, Chania just stood there, gaping and Destiny used this opportunity to grab Jake by his sleeve and Chris – who had been gawking at a passing brunette – and march out of the arena, down the hall and out into the Duel Academy Grounds, Mark and Vanessa just behind her.

"Well," Jake said, dusting off his sleeve once Destiny had released him, "you dealt with Chania alright."

"You looked like you needed some help."

"I was handling it just fi–"

Destiny looked at him, sapphire eyes narrowed, "no you weren't."

"Destiny was always the one with the negotiating skills," Mark laughed.

"Do you guys have anymore lessons?" Vanessa asked, her ginger head bobbing.

"Nope," Destiny shook her head, "we're all free now."

"So," Jake asked, "where to?"

"Your place?" Chris suggested, looking at Jake.

Destiny nodded, "yeah. I asked my dad to pick me up from there."

"Same," Mark added, "your place is like a rendezvous point."

Jake shrugged. "My mom should probably be home right now."

"What about Violet?" Vanessa asked, excitedly referring to Jake's younger sister. "Will she be there?"

Jake nodded, "I think so."

"Well come on, then," Chris gestured with his hand for the others to get moving, "let's make like trees and leaf."

Jake raised a single blonde eyebrow. "What?"

Chris rolled his eyes, Atlas men had no sense of humour whatsoever. "Let's just get moving."

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**EchoGirl: So yeah, what do you think? I know I haven't got any Akiza in this chapter but I'm gonna have a _whole_ chapter on her soon so don't worry! Anyway, can anyone guess who Jake's mom will be? Well, I hope you guys liked it and I'll have the next chapter up soon. R+R people!**


	5. A Tale of the Past

**EchoGirl: Whoo! Longest chapter yet. This took me _ages_ to write. (Ages being, like, 4hrs) **

**Goldfish: Yeah. _Ages _indeed.**

**EchoGirl: Just do the disclaimer already.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's**

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A Rose in the Stars

**Chapter 4**

It was an uneventful walk from Duel Academy to the Atlas Household, the gang were slowly meandering their way there, looking in the window of each shop and café they passed. Jake kept glancing behind him, a worried look on his face, as if he were expecting a rabid bald kuriboh to attack him from behind. After his twenty-fourth time doing this, Destiny had finally had enough.

"What exactly are you looking for?" she sighed, giving him a hard glare. "You're beginning to make me nervous."

"Chania." He replied, as if the girl's name answered everything.

"What about her, dude?" Chris asked, raising a silvery blue eyebrow.

"She might be following us."

"Chania?" Vanessa asked from beside Chris, "isn't that the blonde girl who was bothering you earlier?"

Jake nodded.

"Why would she be following us?" Mark questioned, "I mean, I know she's got, like, an obsession with you and all that, but _follow _us? That's just creepy. Are you sure you're not just being paranoid?"

"I am _not _being paranoid!" Jake snapped at Mark, "last semester she stalked me home from school once. She was hiding in the bushes watching me. Good thing I spotted her before she found out where I live." He shuddered visibly at the thought, that _thing _turning up on his doorstep.

_Whoa, _Destiny thought, _she's even more desperate than I thought. I mean, _stalking _him? Now that's just pathetic. And perverted._

"I think if Uncle Jack found her trespassing on _his _property, stalking _his _son, you wouldn't have to worry about her showing up at your place ever again," Vanessa stated matter-of-factly, earning a collective laugh from the rest of the gang. There was definitely truth in _that_ statement.

Eventually the group reached the Atlas household, just in time to see a unique white duel runner pull up in front of the house. _The Wheel of Fortune._ Property of Jack Atlas. If you value your life, don't _ever _touch it.

"Hey, Dad," Jake greeted as a tall man dressed in a white and purple riding suit got off of the runner and removed his helmet, revealing the immaculately styled golden hair that was unique to the Atlas males and looked down at his nearly identical son.

"Hello, Jake," he greeted, a small smile playing at his lips, his family were the only people Jack ever really showed any true affection for. Lucky for Destiny and the rest of the gang, they were considered family. "How was your day?"

"It was fine," Jake replied, "wasn't all that interesting though. Luna's the only actually decent teacher there."

Jack responded with a nod, Luna _was _a good teacher, unlike half of the other nincompoops at that school; take Heitmann, for example, though he had gotten slightly better since Yusei had defeated him in a duel all those years ago. "What about duelling?" he inquired, "top of the class?"

"Nah," Jake responded with a dismissive wave of his hand, "we only had theory today. It held no interest whatsoever."

Jack nodded in agreement. "Pointless subject," he announced loudly, "I see much more learning coming from experiencing the duel itself. Not from talking about the difference between a trap and spell card." For the first time since he had begun speaking, he noticed the rest of the gang standing behind Jake and smirked, "I see you picked up some strays."

"Hi, Uncle Jack," Destiny greeted, flicking her hair over her shoulder and grinning, "happy to see me?"

"Jumping with joy," Jack replied, rolling his violet eyes.

"Always knew you were," she winked.

"Oi, how long are you lot staying?" he asked them collectively.

Mark shrugged, "dunno. 'Til our parents pick us up, I suppose."

Jack groaned, palming his forehead and running his hand down his face. "That means your parents will come and then no of you will leave until midnight and I'll be forced to cook for all of you!"

"Uncle Jack," Vanessa piped up, in a very serious voice, "you don't have a clue how to cook. I tried your cooking once and it was all burnt and icky. If you're cooking then I don't think anyone will want to stay."

Jack scowled at the eleven-year-old carrot haired girl, "fine then. _Carly_ will be forced to cook for all of you. Does that sound good enough for you, Crow Junior?"

Before Vanessa could response a voice screamed "**DADDY!" **and a young, dark haired girl with Violet eyes was seen running out of the house and throwing her arms around Jack's waist – not that she could reach any further.

"Hello, Violet," Jack replied calmly, patting the girl's head. She let go and turned to the gang.

"Hi, Destiny!" she greeted, excited, "hey, big brother, hey Chris, hey Mark– Nessie!" she exclaimed, staring at Vanessa who simply smiled.

"Hey, Vi."

"Did you start Duel Academy today?" she asked, Vanessa nodded.

"Auntie Luna said that I was an extremely talented duellist, like my father."

Jack snorted almost inaudibly, just as his wife came out of the house, her eyes invisible beneath those comical glasses of hers; though apparently those same comical glasses had once saved both her and Jack's lives. Who would have thought?

"Oh, hey, guys!" she exclaimed upon noticing Jack and the gang, "are you staying here for while?"

The group nodded and Jack approached the his petite black-haired wife, who was the complete opposite from him – he was fair where she was dark, he was tall where she was short and he was cold and aloof where she was bright and bubbly; they completely each other, Destiny thought, like the sun and the moon – and leaned down to give her a peck on the cheek. Carly blushed bright red at this and Destiny couldn't help but chuckle at the way the acted around each other – Jack just being Jack and Carly stumbling over him like a girl with her first crush. It was sweet, she thought as they headed inside.

* * *

Several hours later, everyone was crammed into the Atlas living room, sitting on the sofas or on cushions on the floor. Crow and Emma Hogan had arrived with their six-year-old son, Dylan, who had only just recovered from a sugar-overload and was now tired out, resting on his mother's lap, from jumping around the house and garden with Violet and Vanessa like a mad bouncy ball. Kalin and Louisa Kessler were also there and were sitting, fingers entwined, on the three white sofas while their twin sons sat on the floor immersed in deep conversation with Jake Atlas and Destiny Fudo. Yusei was also there, sharing a sofa with Jack and Carly, watching the children talk and play with an amused glint in his sapphire eyes; his gaze was particularly focussed on his daughter whose head was, unknown to her or Jake, resting on the young blond's shoulder. Even Luna and Leo had arrived, and were now sitting on the floor with their backs leaning against the sofas. All the children who had attended Duel Academy that day had now changed into casual dress.

The curtains were open and it was dark outside, the pale light of the full moon streaming into the lamp lit room. The voice of young Dylan, who had evidently finished his recovery from his earlier sweet intake, rose above the buzz of chatter that filled the room.

"Hey," he called to the adults, everyone ceased talking immediately, "can you tell us a story?"

"Yeah!" Vanessa agreed, immediately taken by the idea as were the other younger occupants of the room, they loved the stories that their parents told about their time fighting evil, using the power of the marks to help them. Destiny, in particular loved those stories: her mother was in them. "Tell us about how the Crimson Dragon defeated the evil Earthbound Immortals!"

Kalin and Carly both flinched at the mention of the Earthbound Immortals, remembering how they had been used as vessels for the evil creatures that had been locked away so long ago. They didn't remember their time as Dark Signers – at least, Carly didn't – but it still hurt to think of all the evil deeds they'd done as mindless slaves to the darkness.

"You want to hear about the Dark Signers?" Crow questioned his daughter, frowning slightly, but Jake answered the question for him.

"No. We've heard that story so many times all ready. Something else."

"The Enforcers?" Chris suggested but Destiny shook her head.

"Heard that one too."

"What about that tournament where you first discovered you where Signers?" Violet asked quietly from her seat between Yusei and Jack, staring up at her father with wide, puppy-dog eyes. Also known to Jack as "The-Dreaded-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-Of-Doom". "We haven't heard that one before, and I heard to talking about it."

Jack let out a sigh, this wasn't exactly a story he wanted to tell – his pride would not allow it, the story of how he, Yusei, Luna and Akiza discovered that they were Signers; and the story of how he lost his championship title to his best friend (former, at that time, now reinstated). But Violet was staring at him with The-Dreaded-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-Of-Doom and he could feel his resolve faltering. Curse whoever taught her that look! Everyone was looking at him expectantly, it was obviously his job to decide whether or not the story would be told or not. Finally he caved in, his daughter's facial expressions winning the battle against his legendary pride. No one but little eight-year-old Violet with her dark hair and amethyst eyes had Jack Atlas quite so firmly wrapped around their finger.

"Fine," he sighed, "get on with it. But don't be biased, Yusei! Our duel was not short and snappy!"

"I never said it was," Yusei replied calmly. "Well it all began shortly after I left Satellite, I had been having an illegal duel with Jack and we had accidentally summoned the Crimson Dragon, which revealed my Signer Mark," Yusei pulled up the sleeve of his jack to reveal the Head Mark of the Crimson Dragon, "except it was the Tail Mark then, the Mark that Crow now has.

"Anyway, security arrived just before I could deliver the final blow and I was arrested and sent to the facility, where I got this," Yusei pointed at the yellow criminal mark on his cheek and Destiny gave a tiny gasp, she had never once bothered to wonder what her father had looked like without the mark, it had always just been there, as much a part of him as his arms or legs.

"It was in the facility that I met Tanner and Yanagi, you remember them don't you?" he asked the others, Destiny nodded, she remembered the strange old man and the blue haired criminal; she hadn't seem them in ages. "Shortly afterwards I was searched by the administrator – under the order of Rex Goodwin – for my Signer Mark which had appeared during and then disappeared after my duel with Jack. They didn't find it and shortly afterwards I duelled the administrator and was freed; only to be followed."

To this, Jack muttered something which, to Destiny, sounded suspiciously along the lines of "so typically Goodwin."

"Tanner had told me to might with someone named Blister, who could help me get my duel runner back as it had been confiscated by Sector Security–"

"I remember Blister!" Dylan exclaimed. "He was there the last time we visited the Satellite!"

Yusei nodded before continuing, "Blister _did _help me get my runner back but on the way back we were ambushed by Officer Trudge, who had a very big grudge on me at the time…"

"Understatement of the century," Crow muttered under his breath. Destiny was aware that Trudge and her father did not have a good relationship throughout Yusei's youth. No doubt one of the main reasons why the man resented Destiny's blatant disrespect of the law when it came to underage turbo duelling.

"_Anyway_," Yusei continued, though he did flash Crow a small smile, "Blister and I got separated and I crashed my runner in the Tops of New Domino City–"

"Where you lost your memory and met me! I mean, me and Luna," Leo interrupted, continuing the story for Yusei, "and you had no idea who you were until you and I had this awesome duel and then you just left in the middle of the night and Luna's and my friend, Dexter called the next morning and–"

"Leo!" Luna cut him off. "Break up your sentences! No one can understand a word you're saying."

Leo obliged and for this everyone was thankful, they really couldn't understand a word he had been saying. "Well Luna and I got a call from our friend Dexter who wanted to find and challenge the urban legend the Black Rose, it was said that she was a witch whose duel monsters dealt real damage."

"A psychic duellist," Destiny whispered, _just like me._

Yusei looked at his daughter, concerned, he had not told her of Akiza traumatic childhood and teenage life. Nor of the years she had spent as the terrifying Black Rose Witch, her time as a madwoman.

"Anyway, Luna didn't want to come so Dexter and I went to see some street duels to wait for the Black Rose to appear. I so Yusei there, and I wanted to thank him for fixing Luna's and my duel disks. They had been too big for us before."

"Yeah," Luna added, "you forgot that you thought Yusei was a superhero and you wanted to ask him if you could be his sidekick."

Everyone chuckled at this, the younger generation in particular, and Leo blushed a deep red. Yusei decided this was time to continue.

"I had been staying with Blister. Goodwin's lackey, a man – dwarf – named Lazar–"

"Dwarf?" Jack snorted loudly, "more like a dwarf-ish gay clown."

Everyone who remembered Lazar sniggered at this comment and the truth it held, leaving the younger generation rather confused and the youngest of the younger generation – Violet and Dylan – completely baffled by the statement.

"Yes, well, Lazar visited me to tell me that my friends in Satellite, Rally and the others, would be hurt if I didn't compete in the Fortune Cup, that was the name of the tournament. Blister had somehow got Tanner and Yanagi out of the Facility and offered to go and warn my Satellite friends about Goodwin when Jack arrived, all flair and flashy in his _Wheel of Fortune_ to return Stardust Dragon to me for the tournament – he stole it two years earlier you see – claiming that he wanted to duel when we were at the height of our power and for that we needed our signature cards: his being Red Dragon Archfiend and mine being Stardust."

Destiny's mouth hung open. Her Uncle Jack had _stolen _her father's Stardust Dragon? She glanced at Jake, _if he ever stole my dragon and kept it for two years, I doubt that I could ever forgive him. _But then again, forgiveness was in her father's nature and she adored him for it. Besides he and Jack had obviously gotten over whatever had happened to them.

"Daddy, you _stole _Uncle Yusei's Stardust Dragon?" Violet asked, looking up at her father from his lap, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "That was so mean! How could you, Daddy?"

Jack glared pointedly at Yusei, as if to say _now look what you've down._

"It's all right, Violet," Yusei soothed, brushing the little girl's back with her hand, "I forgave your father for what he did and now we're friends again."

Violet tears dried up instantly and she leaned over and wrapped her arms around Yusei's neck before wrapping them back around Jack's. "I didn't mean it, Daddy," she told him, "you're not mean. But don't do it again."

Everyone laughed at how easily cold, proud, aloof Jack Atlas was reprimanded by an eight-year-old girl. Jack glared at them. They all quietened down as Yusei began to speak again:

"Once Jack had left, Blister, Tanner, Yanagi and I soon found ourselves in the square that Leo and Dexter where in, waiting for the Black Rose to appear. I was talking to Leo about the Fortune Cup when the Black Rose appeared. Vine and tentacles rose out of the ground, creating a cloud of dust around the so-called witch.

"My Signer Mark appeared and began to glow and throb and I knew that it had something to do with the Black Rose."

"But if the Black Rose was a psychic duellist who was causing mass havoc around New Domino urban area, wouldn't you consider it a little bit dangerous to approach?" Destiny asked her father, using what little knowledge she had of rampaging psychic duellist who were causing mass destruction of cities. The only conclusion that she could come to was that this Black Rose was a tad cookoo.

Yusei looked at her, an unreadable expression in his eyes. The other adults in the room looked at him, knowing that this was Akiza he was talking about. "Yes," he said slowly, "but I didn't know what she was at the time. When she came into view all I saw was a crimson haired woman wearing an old ragged cloak and a mask."

_Crimson hair, _Destiny thought, fingering her own crimson streaks.

"She was shocked to see that I had a Mark, and incidentally revealed that she possessed one too. I tried to approach her, but she wouldn't let me and instead played a trap card and disappeared. I didn't see the Black Rose again," Yusei told them, "not until the Fortune Cup, which she was also duelling in. It was around this time that I discovered that the only reason Goodwin was hosting this tournament was so that he could find the Signers – and they were all competing in his tournament. He already had Jack, Luna was revealed to be a Signer, I was revealed to be a Signer and the Black Rose was also revealed to be a Signer.

"I duelled against her in the tournament finals, and it was not an easy duel. She was no longer wearing her mask, so I could talk to her – try to figure out why she was so cold, why her heart was closed off to the world."

"There he goes," Jack muttered very quietly under his breath, "getting all romantic."

_Romantic? _Destiny's mind echoed, he wasn't being romantic, why would he, he was just being Yusei and trying to help this girl who obviously had serious psychological issues.

"The crowd chanted," Yusei continued, "calling her a witch, demanding that I defeat her, and she got mad. She lashed out with her powers: at the spectators and at me, and I accused her of enjoying the pain she inflicted on others and she replied that she was a witch and these people hated her, of course she did."

_Issues, _Destiny's mind sung.

"In the end, I summoned Stardust Dragon to match her own Signer Dragon, Black Rose. She accused me of summoning Stardust just to give her pain, remind her of all her Mark had put her through and I told her that I never wanted to defeat and crush her, that I wanted to save her, and that to defeat her was the only way. At that moment the true her shone through, but she pulled out her mask and put it on, becoming the Black Rose and refusing to listen to me at all, using the full force of her powers against me. And let me tell you, she was one powerful psychic."

Destiny pitied her father, he had only wanted to help this girl and she had responded by hurting him. But Yusei held a tone of affection in his voice as he spoke of her, so she couldn't have been all bad.

"Finally I defeated her with Stardust Dragon, with that final blow her mask shattered and I saw her for who she truly was. A broken woman, kneeling on the ground sobbing, begging me to help her. Yet before I could do anything, a man approached and put his coat around her, helping her stand and leading her away, telling me I'd done enough damage for one day. She was part a something called the Arcadia Movement, you see, a legion of psychic duellists led by a man named Sayer. It was Sayer who led her off of the duelling arena, she was one of the Movement's best, and a personal favourite of Sayer's. I could see the hatred in his eyes as he looked at me, cursing me for what I had done to his precious Black Rose."

Destiny, and all the others youngsters, frowned. None of them liked this man, and the adults – particularly the Signers – hated him. Destiny had never seen such a look of disgust on her father's face than the one he used when he spoke of this 'Sayer' person. And as for the Black Rose, her original opinion had vanished only to be replaced by pity and sympathy. She still struck her as a rather strange woman, but not completely mad anymore.

"After defeating the Black Rose I went on to duel Jack, a duel during which the Crimson Dragon appeared and we were shown a vision of a future where the Satellite was destroyed, a purple mark – not unlike the red Signer Marks – was glowing in the ground. I went on to defeat Jack and become the new duelling champion."

"Hey!" Jack yelled indignantly, "I said don't be biased! You make it sound like you won that duel in three seconds!"

"Jack," Yusei replied tiredly, glancing at the younger children, who were very close to falling asleep, "it's almost midnight. I cut it down to basics. You can tell them the full version tomorrow."

"Fine," Jack yawned, glancing at Carly who had fallen asleep, her head leaning on his shoulder.

"Dad?" Destiny asked, getting to her feet, knowing that they would be leaving shortly.

"Yes, Destiny?" Yusei asked, knowing the question that would come.

"After your duel, what happened to the Black Rose?"

"I don't know what happened to her immediately after," Yusei admitted, "I saw her again several weeks later, when she was in a coma."

"Why did you see her, if she was in hospital in a coma? Were you just walking by and decided to pop in or something?"

"No, her father came specifically to me, telling me that I was the only one that could wake his little girl up, since the doors to heart were firmly shut and I was the only one that could open them, since I'd done it before at the Fortune Cup. The man was literally on his knees."

"And were you?" Destiny inquired. "Able to wake her up, I mean."

"Yes," Yusei nodded, "I was."

"Oh." Destiny paused for a moment. "I guess you really were the only one that could open the doors to her heart."

"Yes, I was," Yusei replied, wondering if his daughter even knew half the truth of her words.

Destiny was struck by a sudden thought. "Dad?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"What was her name? I mean her real name. She couldn't have just been known as Black Rose, and she must have entered the tournament by her real name."

Destiny remembered the stories her father would tell her of how the Signer's – he, her mother, Luna, Uncle Jack and Uncle Crow – stood against the Dark Signers and won; but she had never heard of the Black Rose, apart from the urban legends of course which spoke of a mad, evil witch, and apparently she was a Signer. But Destiny was only aware of five Signers. Could it be…? No. That was impossible.

"She did. Her name…" Yusei hesitated, he didn't know how Destiny would react to this information. "Her name was Akiza Izinski."

Destiny stared at him, mouth a gape. "But that's… does than mean she's…?"

Yusei nodded. "Yes, Destiny. The former Black Rose Witch is your mother."

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Meanwhile, many, many miles away. A crimson haired woman stands on a beach, watching the water lap at the sands beneath the midnight sky, thinking about the one duel that changed her life forever.

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**EchoGirl: It's so long, I'm so proud! So yeah, Jake and Violet's mother _is _Carly to all those who guessed right. Anyway the next chapter is all about Akiza and I hope you guys keep reading!**

**Goldfish: R+R.**

**EchoGirl: Thank you, Goldfish.**


	6. Missing You

**EchoGirl: So, yeah, I've rewritten this chapter due to a blip in copyright, my bad (really sorry about that Jen Kritique). So I've gone over for errors since there's been a few spelling mistakes and I've rewritten some of the scenes and I'm actually fully awake this time. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.****

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**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 5**

The bright morning sun shone brightly through the windows, illuminating the room where a magenta haired woman slept peacefully. She groaned in frustration and buried her face into the pillow. It was just another sunny, peaceful day in Danson City. Nothing ever happened here.

At first, once she had gotten over leaving Yusei and Destiny in Domino, Akiza had relished the peace and quiet. At nineteen years old she had seen too much excitement for one lifetime.

Now she just found it boring.

"Rise and shine, Akiza!" Her roommate, Jenna **(AN: yes, the woman who was drunk in Chapter 2) **sang, bursting into the room.

Akiza sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Could you _please _not do that," she groaned, "I'm not a morning person. I can't take that much excitement at 10 am."

Jenna rolled her eyes, "you can't take any excitement, be it morning, afternoon, evening or night. Now, come on! I've got a great day planned: we're meeting up with Nadia and your cousin Lilith to grab a coffee and then we're going shopping!"

"Jenna!" Akiza complained. "You know I hate shopping!"

"Yeah, but we need to buy you something extra special for your date tonight!"

"Yeah, whatever," Akiza mumbled, beginning to lie back down before shooting back up again, "wait a second! _Date?!"_

She stared at Jenna who was scratching the back of her head, a sheepish grin on her face. Akiza stood up and stalked towards the brunette.

"Oh, no you didn't. You did _not _set me up on a date with some guy! Again! Tell me that you didn't!"

Jenna was literally cowering now as Akiza marched towards her, her hand reaching dangerously for her pink and white duel disk. She knew all too well of Akiza's psychic abilities and also knew that the landlady would kill them if Akiza destroyed the house.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, "I just worry that you're lonely, all by yourself. I mean, you look up at the stars every night as if there's someone up there. I don't know what happened to you, Aki, to make you like this, but I'm always thinking that maybe, just maybe, having a man in your life would help. I remember how lost you were when you first arrived in Danson and all I've wanted to do is help. Turn you back into that bubbly four-year-old I used to be best friends with all those years ago."

Akiza nodded and sighed, plopping back down on the bed. She understood that all Jenna wanted to do was help, but she was completely missing the point. Having a man in her life wouldn't help, it would only make things worse. Besides, someone already owned her heart. "I'm sorry for getting mad, Jen," she apologised, "I know you're only trying to help."

"So will you do it?" she asked excitedly.

Akiza glanced at her. "Do what?"

"Go on the date, silly. I know you don't want to go, but it can't exactly be cancelled now. Plus, Damien really, really likes you and it would be horrible to just burst his hopes like that."

"You set me up on a date with _Damien_?" Akiza asked incredulously. Damien was a colleague of her's and Jenna's who sometimes sat with them during the lunch break and attempted to flirt with her. She, of course, had shot down all of his advances on the spot. He was an attractive man, in a plain, gloomy sort of way, with dark brown hair and eyes and fair skin. He wasn't unique like Yusei, with his golden-streaked raven hair and those soul-reading sapphire eyes… Akiza shook her head briskly. If she kept thinking about him she'd lose her concentration and do something really embarrassing – like walking into a wall. That had happened before.

"He's a really nice guy once you get to know him," Jenna defended, "and he's pretty attractive, you have to admit."

"Why don't you date him then?"

Jenna groaned, face-palming herself. Akiza was completely missing the point, either that or just avoiding it. "Because he doesn't like me, Aki. He likes _you._ I'm not stranger to heartbreak, Akiza, and I don't want him to feel that kind of pain. Plus, he might be able to mend _your _broken heart.

_Maybe he could_, Akiza thought scornfully, but the thing was she didn't want her broken heart to be mended. Her broken heart was the only memory she had of Yusei and Destiny. She didn't even know what her daughter looked like. But she saw the truth in Jenna's words and had to admit that a broken heart was a pain she would hate to inflict on anyone ever again; so out of pity she agreed to this 'date' that Jenna had set up for her, on the condition that this was the last time she ever put her up to this. Jenna agreed, ecstatic.

"Awesome! Now get ready, Akiza, we're going shopping!"

Okay, maybe agreeing to this _had _been a bad idea after all.

* * *

Two hours later, Jenna, Akiza, Jenna's friend Nadia and Akiza's cousin, Lilith were all sitting outside a café in a square in the centre of Danson City sipping cappuccinos. Akiza pushed hers away, disgusted, caffeine had never been her thing unless in the case of an absolute emergency.

"So," Nadia began, looking at Akiza, "got a date with Damien, huh? Lucky you. He's quite a sight for sore eyes."

Akiza blushed and looked away, she couldn't believe that Jenna had told everyone about this. And made it sound like it was her decision in the first place!

"Oh, Aki," Lilith laughed, mistaking her younger cousin's blush for shyness rather than simmering rage, "no need to be shy. He's quite the man, and he's very nice, too. He'll be good for you."

The former Black Rose Witch glared at her three companions. When would they see that she held. No. Romantic. Interest. Whatsoever. In. Damien Bryan. None at all. Desperate to get away from conversation she did something so completely out of character that it shook all three other women to the core.

Akiza Izinski suggested that they go shopping. _Wow._

_If only I had caught that on video camera, _Jenna thought as they got up and headed for a particularly large – and in Akiza's opinion completely obnoxious looking – department store.

* * *

Akiza slumped in the chair, exhausted after the shopping spree. She was never _ever_ doing that again. Shopping sure does take the energy out of you.

"Stop squirming, Aki," Jenna berated her from behind, "I'm trying to fix your hair!"

Akiza sighed, not understanding why Jenna had wanted to do her hair in the first place; it was too short to do anything with, but apparently she wanted to do something with her bangs to make her look 'just perfect'.

"There!" Jenna exclaimed happily, "all done! You look magnificent!"

Cautiously, Akiza lifted her head to look in the mirror and discovered that she looked…

…exactly the same.

She wasn't even going ask Jenna about what she had been doing for her hair. She stood up and glanced in the mirror again, inspecting herself. She wore a red spaghetti-strap dress which ended just below the knee with a single slit going up the right leg **(AN: Think of the dress she wore in Episode 73) **and red stilettos that would probably kill her feet by the end of the evening but the girls had insisted that she wear them anyway. She hoped that what she was wearing wasn't _too_ suggestive. She didn't want to give Damien the wrong idea.

"Whoo, Aki!" Jenna wolf-whistled. "You're gonna sweep Damien off his feet! Though, technically it should be the other way around," she added as an after thought, "but who cares?"

"Not helping, Jenna."

* * *

Akiza picked uncertainly at her food, her brown eyes glancing around the restaurant, looking everywhere except at Damien, who was desperately attempting to catch her eye. It was a nice place he had brought her to. Expensive. She stared down at her bowl again, poking at the spaghetti inside it with her fork.

"Akiza, are you not hungry?" Damien asked, dark brown eyes staring at her with concern, they glowed in the candlelight.

Akiza released her fork, giving him a fake smile. "I'm fine. It's just a little bit much, you know."

He smiled back at her. "Yes, there's quite a lot on my plate too."

Akiza's gaze returned once more to her bowl.

"Do you not want to be here?" he asked gently and Akiza's head shot up, her cat-like brown eyes wide.

"It's not that, Damien," she said, "I just…"

He reached out and put his hand over hers. "It's all right, Akiza, I understand that you don't feel the same way about me as I feel about you. You're different, special, from everyone else and I just want to get to know you better; you're so cold and aloof all the time, but I see the pain and sorrow in your eyes, and I know that you've been through many things – things that I can't even begin to imagine. I just want to know you, Akiza."

In response to this, Akiza gave him her first genuine smile of the day, and she curled her hand around his, intertwining their fingers. "Thank you, Damien. You're the first person who's seen me as that, and not just as a cold thoughtless woman who doesn't know the definition of the word 'fun'."

Damien laughed, and locked his fingers over hers. "Would you like to take a walk outside?"

"Yes," Akiza replied, still smiling, "I'd like that a lot."

Damien called for the bill and soon the two found their way walking hand-in-hand along the beach, bathed in moonlight, looking very much your average couple – not that Akiza was aware of this. She was holding her ridiculous shoes in the hand that wasn't intertwined with Damien's. She already had blisters on her feet. Slowly, she walked over to the water, dragging her companion with her, and let the cold water soak her sore feet. Damien also took off his socks and shoes and stood in the shallow water with her, the tiny waves lapping over his toes.

Akiza closed her eyes and let the cool breeze pass over her face. She opened them to see Damien standing in front of her. A lot closer than he had been before.

"Akiza," he whispered, stroking her cheek. Akiza closed her eyes, imagining a different hand stroking that same cheek so many years ago. She opened her eyes to see Damien lower his face to hers. "I've loved you for so long, Akiza," he whispered, his hand moving to her neck, slowing caressing it, "ever since you arrived here almost fourteen years ago. You were so beautiful, so sad and lost."

"I was so sad and lost," Akiza echoed softly, confused by the sudden turn of events; yet as his face came closer and closer towards hers she was struck by a sudden flashback from just under fifteen years ago.

_*** __**Flashback **__***_

_Akiza watched angrily as the girl bent down a placed a kiss on Yusei's cheek – a token of thanks for helping her, she had said – right on the marker. One thought flew through Akiza's mind._

Oh, no she did _not _just go there!

_Pretty, perfect, turquoise-eyed little slut! The jealousy was overwhelming. Akiza had known that she was in love with her fellow Signer for weeks now but she had never thought that jealousy was such a powerful emotion that it was enough to want to give someone a black eye. And that little… thing deserved one._

_The entire gang watched as she skipped merrily out of the garage. Yusei wiped the kiss off his cheek with the back of his hand and Akiza felt suddenly compelled to do something extremely stupid._

"_If she can kiss you," she announced angrily, "then so can I!"_

_Abruptly, she grabbed the collar of Yusei jacket and pulled him towards her, planting her lips firmly upon his. He tensed up in shock and Akiza swore that she could hear the gleeful, triumphant roars of two dragons, which soundly suspiciously like Stardust and Black Rose. All too soon she released him and glanced around the garage._

_Ever member of the room gaped in shock, their mouths hanging open with a dumb look on their faces. It was silent enough to hear a fly buzzing as it flew in front of them. Akiza bit her lip, shocked at what she had just down. Everyone blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Still no one said a word. Akiza looked slowly over their horror struck faces._

_This wasn't good._

_She glanced at Leo, poor, innocent, sheltered little Leo, who's face was positively turning an unhealthy shade of green._

_She wished that the ground would swallow her whole._

_"I think I'm gonna throw-up," the teal-haired boy announced loudly before heading for the bathroom._

_*** **End Flashback *****_

She was thrown back into the real world by the sensation of lips upon hers. Her eyes were still closed and her first instinct was to respond.

"Yusei," she breathed into the kiss, but something was wrong. This person wasn't Yusei! He smelt of pasta and aftershave instead of oil and grease. His hands were bare against the soft, pale flesh of her neck, not gloved. And there was no gleeful, triumphant roar of dragons in the background.

She jerked away and her eyes shot open, revealing Damien standing before her.

"Akiza?" he asked.

Akiza shook her head rapidly and dropped her shoes. "I'm sorry," she gasped out, feeling the hot tears leaking from her eyes, "I have to go."

And she ran, away from him, as far away as possible. She wanted Yusei, she wanted Destiny, she wanted all her friends who were back in Domino. Exhausted, she fell onto the sand and began to cry.

* * *

"Akiza!" Damien had called after her, but it was no use. She was gone. He loved her, he almost had her, she had responded to the kiss initially so why had she run? Then he remembered something she had said, almost inaudibly, into the kiss they had shared. Something that sounded suspiciously like a name. Who was this Yusei person?


	7. The Enforcers Return

**EchoGirl: This chapter's really short, I know, but I think you'll like it. I was thinking about that old dueling gang that Kalin, Jack, Yusei and Crow used to be in and I kind of wanted to reinforce that idea. The gang's gonna be getting into some real trouble soon. Misfits, just like their parents (shakes head sadly).**

**Goldfish: Misfits. Psychopaths. Mass-murdering machines. Kind of like me.**

**EchoGirl: Oh, just shut up and do the disclaimer already!**

**Golfish: (sighs) EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Happy?**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 6**

Destiny was distant, she had been ever since she had learnt the truth about her mother. And Jake was sick of it. He, Chris, Mark and Vanessa were all hanging about in Destiny's room doing nothing while Destiny sat, curled up on the windowsill, staring outside dumbly. It had been like this for the past half-hour.

"My mother," Destiny whispered hoarsely, the right side of her head pressed against the glass, "was the Black Rose."

"Look, Destiny," Chris stated suddenly, he too was sick of her current attitude, "it could have been a lot worse. I mean, she could've been a rock, or something."

Everyone, including Jake, sweatdropped. Chris wasn't helping in the least. But it did gain a reaction out of Destiny, which was good.

"Chris," she swivelled around to face him, "my mother is not a rock. Having a rock for a mother is biologically impossible." She rolled her eyes, "idiot."

Chris glared at her, "well sorry, _genius, _I'm just trying to help."

"Well, you're not exactly doing a great job. Did your mother injured, and possibly _kill_, dozens of people? Was she a bedtime story used to scare little children? Answer, no."

Chris opened his mouth to retort, but before any words could come out a distinct yell of "shut the hell up!" came from Jake's direction. All eyes turned to him.

"Chris," he looked at the ice blue haired boy, "you're not helping. Destiny," he turned to the girl in question, "quit whining. The Black Rose is your mother and there's nothing you can do about it, so there's no point in moaning!"

"Yeah," Vanessa piped up, "and there must have been something good in her, because you're definitely not a witch and remember what Uncle Yusei said about those Arcadia Movement weirdos."

Mark nodded, "yeah, he said that they were controlling her or something like that."

Destiny smiled at them. "Thanks, guys. You're probably right, it just kind of, shocked me, you know?"

The others nodded simultaneously. Shocked was an understatement.

"But it's not just that," Destiny admitted, "I've been having some pretty _weird _feelings lately?"

"What do you mean?" Jake asked suspiciously.

"I've been feeling some emotions that, you know, aren't mine. It's like there someone else's. Just last night I felt so sad that it threatened to break me. I don't know what it was, but it was really creepy." She curled her body inwards, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"Maybe you should go see a doctor," Jake suggested carefully, "there's a pretty big chance that you're going nuts."

The next thing the blond realised was that a pillow had collided with his face.

"I do not need to see a doctor!" her voice was serious but, to everyone's delight, there was a smile on Destiny's face as she spoke, mocking offence. Of course, anyone would be smiling if they just had had the satisfaction of slamming a pillow into Jake Atlas's face.

"Evidently not. People, I believe we have our Destiny back."

The raven-haired girl smiled, pushing a magenta streaked strand away from her heart-shaped porcelain face as the rest of the room's occupants let out a series of cheers and whoops.

_Wait, why I'm I noticing these? _Jake mentally berated himself.

_Because you think she's pretty, _that annoying little voice in the back of his head replied.

_What? I do not think that she's pretty! _

_Beautiful, then, _the voice was smug.

_I can't believe that I'm having a conversation with myself! Maybe _I'm _the one who needs to see a doctor. And I do not think that she's pretty or beautiful!_

_Denial, _the voice said, _the first step to acceptance._

_Shut up!_

"Jake?" Mark asked, waving a hand in front of the blond's face, "Jake? Yoo-hoo? Are you there?"

Jake swatted the hand away. "Back off."

He was still disturbed by that mental conversation that he'd been having. He glanced at Destiny, who had now joined them on the floor. Maybe she _was _pretty. But just a little bit.

"So," he asked, "now what?"

"Well," Chris drawled, "if we really want to find out some more about Destiny's mom, I know how."

"How?" asked everyone. None of them, however, had a good feeling about this. Chris got some pretty weird ideas sometimes.

"Okay, so your mom's last name is Izinski, right, Destiny?"

Destiny nodded, not sure where this was going.

"Well in the phonebook, I saw the name of a certain Senator Izinski so I decided to look the guy up on the internet and it turned out that his name is Hideo, he has a wife called Setsuko and apparently they have a daughter who disappeared – took off, poof, just like that about fourteen years ago."

Everyone stared at him, gaping.

"So," Destiny spoke very quietly, "you think these people are my grandparents? You mean, they've just been living here in New Domino for the past fourteen years and I've never even seen them?"

"Yep," Chris nodded, "and they probably know the most about this whole Black Rose thing, so I suggest that we go pay gramps and grams a little visit."

"You mean break into their house," Jake asked, "don't you?"

"Uh-huh."

"You're a psychopath."

"I know. So, what do you guys think?"

"I think that you're going to be responsible for a murder before you turn twenty-one." Jack replied, shuddering. "Creep."

"I say we do it," Destiny spoke up, "I, personally, want to know about my mother. I don't know about you guys, but it'll be kind of like those stories that Dad, Uncle Jack, Uncle Kalin and Uncle Crow used to tell us about. Their old gang back in the old Satellite. The Enforcers." She smirked, "but the second generation. Keep the legacy alive, you know."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Chris exclaimed, hi-fiving Destiny, "what do you say?"

"Count me in," Mark responded, grinning at his twin.

"Me too!" Vanessa added, her voice bubbling with excitement.

They all stared expectantly at Jake.

"Fine." He replied, a small smile tugging at his sharp features. "Let's do it."

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, yeah, they'll probably be in a heap of trouble in the next chapter. I mean, breaking into your grandparents' house? And what's this? Jake hearing voices? Oooooh, cliffhanger! R+R please!**


	8. Busted

**EchoGirl: So here we go. I hope you guys like this chapter. You finally get to meet the grandparents! Under pretty strange circumstances, I'll admit, I mean who first meets their grandparents by breaking into their house? Really...**

**Goldfish: You're giving away the entire chapter! They don't want to hear it!**

**EchoGirl: Oops.**

**Goldfish: (sighs) EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 7**

"So," Destiny murmured, standing outside the extremely large house, her friends flanking her, "this is the Izinski household."

"Not a bad place," Mark said, gazing up at the house.

Vanessa nodded in agreement. "It sure is big."

"Meh," Jake shrugged, "they could've done more with the garden. Plus, you can see that all their windows have been replaced at least once."

Everyone rolled his or her eyes.

"You really need to stop hanging about your father as much as you do," Destiny told him, "you're adopting his attitude."

Jake glowered at her, violet eyes shining.

_Pretty, pretty, pretty! _That aggravating voice in his head sung.

_Shut up! _

They had been hiding in the bushes until they were sure that the senator and his wife were not home before stepping forward. Chris, being the strange, twisted child that he was, had revealed to the rest of the group that he knew how to pick locks. Destiny was becoming increasingly concerned his mental state, but she had to admit that being able to pick locks was an awesome skill. The rest of the group had even begged him to teach them.

After half an hour they had decided it was safe and were now standing in the house's looming shadow as Chris worked on the lock with his mother's hairpins. With a click, the door opened.

"Yeah!" Chris exclaimed, punching at the air, "who's genius?"

Destiny rolled her eyes as she climbed the steps up to the porch, pushing him over in the process. The others followed her inside. She closed the door turned to them.

"Right, you know our mission. Split up, explore the house, and see if you can find anything on Akiza Izinski or the Black Rose, but don't touch _anything _else. This," she looked around the entrance, "is our rendezvous point. We'll meet back here when we're done."

Her four companions nodded and headed off in different direction. Jake headed left to the living, Chris right to the study, Vanessa headed down the hall and Mark headed for the kitchen. Destiny glanced to her right.

"I guess that leaves upstairs for me," she mused, sliding her hand along the banister before beginning to climb the stairs.

* * *

The first room that Destiny came to upstairs led to the master bedroom. A king-sized bed was pressed up against one wall, flanked by two bedside tables. A book was lying face down one of them. She walked over and silently picked it up.

"_Wuthering Heights_ by Emily Bronte," she read quietly, her fingers brushing the elegant typing. She opened the book and watched as a folded piece of paper fell out of it and fluttered to the ground. Tentatively, she bent down to pick it up.

She put the book back in place and carefully unfolded the letter. Her eyes widened as she began to read:

_Mom, Daddy,_

_I'm sorry. I know that I've been gone for months without even saying anything, and that you're probably worried sick about me. You always are, and I don't think I've ever really appreciated how much you really do care about me._

_I'm leaving. For good this time. And I'm not coming back this time._

_Something's happened. Something that you wouldn't understand. I know that you've always told me not to run away from my responsibilities, but this isn't something I can face. You know what I did to both of you, especially you, Daddy, and I'm afraid of that happening again. I couldn't bear it if I ever hurt someone else, someone important to me, like that again. I don't think I could survive._

_So I'm leaving. It'll be better for everyone. Just, please, forget me._

_And I'm sorry. For everything._

_Your daughter,_

_Akiza_

The letter fell from Destiny's hand as she stumbled backwards, shocked to the core. She dove for it before it could hit the floor and clutched it tight to her chest.

Her mother had written this. Her mother had given this to her parents the day that she had left. She had asked them to forget about her. Like she had never existed.

Destiny choked out a strangled cry, and the letter crumpled in her grip. She said that she didn't want anyone important to her to get hurt again.

_Me._

She had hurt her own parents, the letter had said, Yusei had revealed that she had hurt him, and it was common knowledge that she had hurt many others. She hurt so many people that she'd loved. She didn't want to hurt daughter.

Destiny's desire to unravel the mystery of her mother's past was stronger than ever.

She would solve the enigma that was the Black Rose.

Slowly, she slipped a card from her deck and slid it into position on her duel disk, using her psychic powers to solidify the monster.

"White Magician of Fate," she called in a whispered voice as a white cloaked girl, appeared before her. She was dressed in a loose silvery white dress and an open white cloak. A pair of silver eyes situated in beautiful pale face framed by long silvery white hair peered out at her from beneath the cowl of the cloak. She held a silver staff tipped with a mystical red jewel in one hand.

"Can you help me find information about my mother?" Destiny asked the duel monster spirit who nodded silently and touched the girl's forehead, her eyes glowing eerily. Her lips twisted into a smile and with a grace that only the monster spirits could have walked out of the room, her mistress in tow.

She led Destiny to a door just down the hall and passed through the it. Destiny opened the door and looked curiously around the room. There was a bed in one corner. Destiny walked over to it, her fingers brushing against the wall as she went. White Magician of Fate stood next to a cardboard box, watching her as she went.

The room was dusty, Destiny noticed, coughing. Her fingers touched the bedspread, only to come away with a layer of grey dust. She rubbed it off on her trousers.

_Whoever's room this is hasn't been here in a while, _Destiny thought disgustedly, recoiling as her hand made contact with another dust covered surface. _I mean, my grandparents could've at least _cleaned _the place. Unless of course they didn't want anything about it to change… wait a second! That's it!_

This was her mother's room. It made complete sense. They hadn't forgotten about her like she'd asked them to. They'd left her room completely the same, just in case she ever came back. Destiny bounded over and wrapped her duel monster in a tight embrace. After a moment, the magician returned the hug.

"Thank you, White Magician!" she told her, "this is her room, isn't it?"

The magician nodded, "yes, Destiny, it is. And here." She bent down and pulled a wrapped object out of the cardboard box and handed it to her mistress. "You will be able to experience what she experienced through this."

Destiny stared at her, wide-eyed. Before unwrapping the strange object. She let the wrapping fall unceremoniously to the floor as she gaped at the object in her hands.

This was too good to be true.

In her trembling hands Destiny Fudo held the mask of the Black Rose Witch.

It was completely white, with a red stripe – shaped like a scar – running vertically across each eye. It cracks ran across several spots of it – like it had somehow been broken and then glued back together. She glanced at White Magician, who smiled gently at her before vanishing. Destiny once again turned her sapphire gaze to the mask.

It was light in her hands, practically weightless. As she stared intently into its empty eyes she could just hear the whispered voices it emitted.

"…_we're relying on you, Akiza…"_

"…_stay away from me!…"_

"…_embrace your dragon, it's beautiful, just like you are behind the mask…"_

"…_I'm not beautiful!…"_

"…_you've done enough damage for one day…"_

"…_help me…"_

Destiny almost dropped the mask in shock. So many voice, all merged together, so much pain…

"Who are you?!" an unfamiliar male voice yelled from downstairs. Destiny gasped in horror. This. Could. Not. Be. Happening.

"How did you get in here?!" a shocked female voice added fearfully.

_Uh-oh. Busted._

Hastily, Destiny shoved the mask and letter into a bag that she had brought and grabbed a few more items from around the room, shoving them in too before zipping the bag shut and racing downstairs. She could hear White Magician's voice in her head urging her to hurry.

_What do you think I'm doing? _She would have rolled her eyes were she not in such a rush.

She reached the bottom of the stairs to see Jake, Vanessa, Mark and Chris gathered in the hall, staring at a couple who were standing shocked in the doorway. She joined them just in time to hear the woman announcing that she was calling security and whip out a phone. She watched as the holographic image of Officer Trudge appeared before them.

_That's just great, _she thought sarcastically, _of every member of Sector Security to call it just had to be him._

She could tell that the others were thinking the exact same thing.

"Mrs. Izinski?" Trudge asked squinting, he evidently hadn't heard from her in a while. "Is that you?"

"Yes," the violet haired woman nodded. So _this _was her grandmother. That must mean that the large intimidating man with the moustache was her grandfather, "some youths just broke into our house?"

"What?" Trudge exclaimed, "why would anyone try to break into a senator's house?"

"Well, they did," her grandfather responded, standing beside her grandmother.

"Have they run off yet?" Trudge asked.

"No," Setsuko shook her head. "We've got them right here."

"Strange," Trudge murmured, stroking his chin before turning back to the couple, "alright. Show me this bunch of unruly uneducated vandals."

"We're not unruly, uneducated vandals, Trudge," Jake snapped as the woman turned the phone so as security officer could see the group.

"YOU!" Trudge exclaimed loudly, then saw all of them. "I always thought you lot where a bunch of misfits, just like your fathers back in the old Satellite, but this time you've pushed the limit. Especially you two," he glared at Destiny and Jake.

Before either one could retort, Vanessa replied indignantly, "we haven't taken anything!"

_Except me, _Destiny thought guiltily, glancing at her bag. She didn't want the others to get blamed for what she did, as she knew that each one of them would take the blame without even considering what might happen to them.

"No," Trudge responded, "but you broke into someone's house and entered without permission. _That, _in case you were unaware, Miss Hogan, is against the law." He turned back to the Izinskis. "I'm going to be coming to pick these unruly kids up and take them into custody until I can speak to their parents."

"Ha," Jake snorted, "I'd like to see you deal with my father after arresting me."

Trudge blanched slightly and Destiny chuckled at the thought. That _would _be a sight.

Unfortunately, Trudge recovered quickly. "Nevertheless, you lot are coming downtown. Senator Izinski," he glanced at Hideo, "you and your wife are welcome to come along to see that these kids' punishment is to your satisfaction."

"I think we will," Hideo replied, "there's something familiar about these children and I want to find out what."

_He recognises our parents in us, _Destiny thought as the call ended and Trudge's hologram disappeared.

She moved closer to the rest of the group, so that they were all huddled together, waiting for Trudge to arrive as the Izinskis eyed them suspiciously.

_Some grandparents they are, _Destiny thought in amusement, _having their only grandchild arrested on sight._

* * *

**EchoGirl: Some grandparents indeed. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter so it'll be up super soon! I hoped you guys liked this one. And, yep, Jake is still hearing voices. R+R please!**


	9. Eye Contact

EchoGirl: This, I know, is a super duper short chapter but it's just a suspense build up so don't go nuts! I've got a much longer chapter that will be up really soon! Probably later today or something like that...

**Goldfish: Quit babbling! So, yes, this is an inbetween chapter and, yes, the next one will be up soon and, no, EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 8**

Setsuko Izinski frowned as she watched the children through the glass. She glanced at her scowling husband and gently put a hand on his arm.

"I can't believe that those kids that the _nerve_," he broke off in a sigh. "What where they even doing there? They didn't steal anything, that much was apparent, but then, _why else break into someone's house?_"

"Don't worry," she told him, "we'll be having a word with their parents when they arrive."

Hideo nodded and they turned their gazes back to the children. They looked eerily familiar, not the twins, but the others. Especially that dark haired girl who Setsuko was positive had a bag with her before they arrived at Security Headquarters but not after words.

She cocked her head, trying to remember why it was that they looked so familiar. She stared at each one separately scrutinising and analysing them.

First she examined the youngest, a girl with short hair which had so much resemblance to a carrot that it was scary. Her eyes were a dark green and her skin dotted with freckles. Setsuko decided that she looked around ten, maybe eleven, years old. She wasn't tall for her age and stood a couple of inches shorter than the other girl, and about a foot shorter than the three boys.

Next came the twins. They didn't look familiar at all, but there was something about them that told the woman that these two were troublemakers. They were completely identical, the same long-ish ice blue hair and eyes. Their thin, lanky bodies and sharp, pointed features gave them an almost sinister appearance. The only thing that they didn't seem to have in common was the clothes they were wearing. Strangely enough though, it wasn't at all difficult for almost all of the security officers to easily tell them apart. One was more likely far more mischievous than the other.

After examining the slouching duo, Setsuko moved her dark brown gaze to the blond boy in the corner. He looked about fourteen, maybe even fifteen, but by the way the others and the security officers treated him, she guessed that he was younger. Thirteen, maybe? He looked incredibly familiar with his golden hair, spiked at the back, and those twin thin blond braids falling to his chest. Their eyes met; hers a suspicious dark brown and his a cold violet. He fixed her with an icy glare that could've stopped a stampeding elephant in its tracks. Yes, that attitude did seem familiar.

She watched closely as the final member of the group, the leader from what she'd been able to establish approached the cold blond boy and touched his arm. He dragged his eyes away from Setsuko and began to speak to her. She noticed the others craning their necks to see them.

Setsuko was curious. She had as of yet to get a proper look at this girl. She seemed to be the most mature of the lot and the others seemed to listen to her. Much more than they appeared to listen to Trudge and the other officers at least.

"Mrs. Izinski? Senator?" an approaching female voice asked. The couple turned to she a woman with short blue hair walking towards them.

_Mina Simington, _Setsuko thought as the woman stopped beside them.

"The children's parents should be here in about five minutes," she told them.

"Good," Hideo nodded.

Mina gave a small, sad smile as she peered through the glass between the adults and the children. "Don't be too hard on them," she said, "they're good kids. Really."

Hideo frowned at her. "You know these kids?" he asked.

"We're acquainted," Mina replied without meeting his gaze, "I know their parents."

"Who are they?" Setsuko asked, curious to know why these children looked so familiar. Perhaps it was through their parents.

Mina nodded and pointed at the blond boy, "that's Jake Atlas, Jack's son," she told them.

It was then that it clicked in the violet haired woman's mind. Yes, the boy was the spitting image of the former duel monsters' champion, Jack Atlas; and Jack had been a friend of Akiza! That was why he looked so familiar! Jack was in one of those pictures that Akiza had had in her room. It all made sense now, these were all the children of Akiza's friends.

Pain suddenly lashed at her heart as another part of it was eaten away. If Akiza had stayed… would her own grandchildren be amongst this lot? Hideo put his arm around her, knowing what she was feeling.

"And that's Vanessa Hogan," Mina told them, pointing at the ginger haired girl. Setsuko nodded, remembering a boy with that same ridiculous spiky orange hair from another one of her daughter's photos: Crow Hogan.

"Those are the Kessler twins; Chris and Mark. Kalin Kessler's sons." Setsuko nodded, she had heard Akiza mention a Kalin Kessler once.

"And that," Mina said, her index finger pointing in the direction of the violet-streaked raven hair girl, "is Destiny Fudo."

Now _that _was one name Setsuko had heard more than her fair share of.

As if the girl could feel the woman's gaze on her, she slowly turned around and for the first time, Setsuko Izinski locked her unwitting gaze with that of her granddaughter.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Has the suspense built up enough yet? Everyone (excluding Akiza) meets in the next chapter. And will the Izinskis find out that Destiny is their granddaughter? And what exactly did Destiny do with that bag?**

**Goldfish: The little sneak dumped it in the bushes outside the Security HQ so that they wouldn't be accused of stealing. The rat!**

**EchoGirl: You're one to talk. And quit giving away the storyline! R+R please!**


	10. Encounters

**EchoGirl: Yay! Over 50 reviews! Now I'm happyhappyhappyhappyhappy!!!!!!!!**

**Goldfish: WTF? Freak.**

**EchoGirl: Hey! Happiness in an awesome emotion!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 had a serious sugar rush so she's currently indisposed. She'll be running around like a bouncy ball all night now, so much for my plans. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and no, EchoGirl does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 9**

Everything in the waiting room at Sector Security HQ was silent except for the steady drumming of Yusei's nails against the table.

He glanced at Jack, who was still rather red faced after his bout of threatening, yelling at, and basically just intimidating Trudge, who had made a bee-line for the bathroom. Yep, it was true, Jack Atlas could scare someone that much.

Crow sat beside him, looking very grave and serious, an expression that appeared almost foreign on the redhead's face marked face. Kalin was pacing and running a hand through his ice blue hair.

The kids just had to inherit their fathers' worst traits, didn't they?

Yusei sighed and lowered his head into his hand. It just had to be _that _house though didn't it?

_Man, Destiny, _he thought, _you could have snooped around any other house in the neighbourhood. Why did it have to be that one?_

How the hell was he supposed to explain this to the Izinskis? They didn't even _like _him.

He remembered how they had blamed him for Akiza leaving, said that they'd never wanted to hear from, speak to or even see him again. He hadn't even had a chance to tell them about Destiny's existence. And now they were going to find out that one of the no doubt "unruly, uneducated vandals" was their granddaughter who they hadn't even known existed for the better part of fourteen years since their only child had runaway.

He just hoped that neither Hideo or Setsuko had a heart attack when they found out.

"You're screwed," Jack spoke the words that everyone knew to be true.

Yusei glared at him.

"Not helping, Jack," it was Crow that finally responded.

Jack shrugged just as Trudge re-entered the room. Everyone's eyes turned to him.

"Mina's just bringing the kids along with Senator and Mrs. Izinski."

"I still can't believe that you put my son in a holding cell," Jack growled.

Trudge decided not to reply. It was pointless getting in an argument with the egotistic blond. Instead he looked at Kalin.

"You should keep an eye on your son, Kessler," he told him, "I wouldn't be surprised if that Chris boy had Mafia connections."

Kalin glared at him, almost as coldly as Jack had. "Are you implying something about my son's mental state, _Trudge_?"

Trudge trembled momentarily before turning back to the door, waiting for the children to be brought out. The four former gang members were not in a good mood and, truth to tell, they seemed more angry at him for arresting their children rather than the fact their children had just broken into a senator's house.

He sighed and shook his head. He guessed that they understood how the five youngsters were feeling. They _were _former Satellite rejects, after all.

The door opened and all seated occupants of the room leapt to their feet as Mina entered followed closely by Destiny, Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa with Hideo and Setsuko bringing up the year.

"Dad," Jake greeted Jack with a nod as he approached his father. The others silently followed his example, walking over and standing by their own fathers. Yusei put a hand on Destiny's shoulder and she lifted her head to meet his gaze.

_I'm sorry, Dad, _her eyes spoke.

_Don't worry about it, _his replied.

She turned back to face the others. His remained on her shoulder, keeping her close to him.

"Well," Setsuko began, staring grimly the four fathers, though he could feel her gaze particularly focused on him, her eyes shining with disappointment. "I expected better of you boys."

"We promise that it won't happen again, _will it_?" Crow told the couple before giving all five children _the look._

They all shrunk back into their fathers' chests. All except for Vanessa who shrunk away from hers.

"No, Uncle Crow," they all responded simultaneously. Well, all except for Vanessa who said "No, Dad."

Hideo frowned and glared at the four adults, "if you're all so casual about your children breaking into someone's house, particularly that of an acquaintance, then I suggest that you rethink your parenting methods."

Jack, who was completely sick of this argument and just wanted to go home, simply snapped in response, "last I checked your parenting methods could've used some brushing up too!"

A shocked gasp escaped from Setsuko, who buried her face in her husband's shoulder, Hideo stumbled backwards at the harshness of Jack's words and Yusei even felt Destiny flinch. She hadn't heard about Akiza's traumatic childhood yet, she was clearly concerned by what Jack had said.

"That was low, Jack," he warned the blond, who turned to him.

"Yusei," he said, "I've not have a good day. My son has been arrested by one of the most annoying men I have ever met, I have not had any coffee today and some damned parking warding gave me a ticket this afternoon! I don't care whether it was low or not, it was the truth."

_Jack didn't have any coffee today. _Yusei thought. _Yep. That explains his sour mood completely. Man that guy has a serious coffee fetish._

He glared at every occupant of the room before once again speaking to Yusei. "The kids said that they were having a sleepover at your place tonight. I'll drop Jake off at six."

With that, he and his practical clone stalked out of the waiting room without another word, his trademark white trench coat billowing out behind him.

"Adios, guys. See ya later, Yusei, Destiny," Crow spoke after a moment's pause before he and Vanessa followed Jack out.

"I'll drop the twins off at six, Yusei," Kalin told the raven-haired duellist before heading outside after Crow and Jack.

"Later, Destiny, Uncle Yusei," Chris and Mark winked before running after their father, leaving Yusei and Destiny alone with Hideo, Trudge, Setsuko and Mina.

_Gee, thanks guys. I really appreciate it. _Yusei had never been one for sarcasm but he couldn't prevent it from slipping out, even if it was mentally.

You could practically feel the tension in the room spike to an all time high.

"We should be going too," he said after a few seconds of silence, wrapping an arm around Destiny's shoulders starting to head towards the exit.

Before he had walked three steps he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He twisted his head. It was Setsuko, Hideo was right behind her.

"I never knew you had a daughter, Yusei," her voice was small, her expression unreadable.

Yusei stared at her for a moment before replying, his voice slightly hoarse, "I do," before he continued walking. If the couple worked Destiny's parentage out by themselves then so be it, but he wasn't ready to tell them yet. Not without Akiza. "Come on, Destiny."

Once they were outside, Destiny suddenly ran into the bushes and re-emerged with a bag, stuffed to the brim with objects. Yusei realised immediately what his daughter had done.

"Destiny, you actually stole something from your grandparents, didn't you?" it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Destiny looked down in a semi-display of shame. She wasn't really ashamed. "It's just some of Mom's stuff. I want to know what happened to her. Everything. And I found something that will let me."

They stopped in front of Yusei's red and white duel runner.

"Really?" he asked, looking at her as he handed her a helmet.

"Yep," she replied, putting on the helmet just as Yusei had grabbed his, "White Magician of Fate showed me."

"Hm," Yusei considered, "interesting."

"Very," Destiny agreed as she climbed onto the runner behind her father, adjusting herself so that she was sitting in the exact same position that her mother had been in fifteen years earlier. **(AN: think of Episode 72)**

* * *

After Yusei Fudo and his mysterious daughter had left, Setsuko turned back to her husband.

"There's something strange about that girl," she told her husband, picturing the girl in her mind. Long black hair streaked with violet and soul-seeing catlike sapphire eyes. "She looks like her father," she mused.

"Yes," Hideo agreed, "I didn't know Yusei was married. I mean, I'd heard that the others were, but not him."

"That's because he's not," Mina told them.

"Yeah," Trudge added, "Destiny just popped out of no where. One day she was just… there. No one except their closest friends even has an idea about who her mother is."

"How old is she?" Hideo asked, curious.

"Fourteen in three weeks," Trudge replied.

"That's when Akiza left," Setsuko murmured, remembering the letter that her daughter had left them. A sudden thought struck her. "Hideo?" she asked her husband, "do you think that maybe this Destiny girl had something to do with Akiza leaving?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Akiza always was very fond of Yusei, maybe she, I don't know, left because of a broken heart or something?"

"You think she felt that strongly for him?"

"She definitely felt _something _for him. And I'm almost positive that this Destiny has something to do with our daughter leaving."

"It's a possibility, either that or… no. That's not it."

Setsuko knew instinctively what her husband was talking about, and her eyes widened at the thought. No, that was impossible. Not her Akiza. Yet there was a thought that nagged at her, what if it was true?

_No, _she convinced herself, _there was no connection between Destiny and Akiza. And definitely not a blood connection._

"No, you're right," she agreed, "that's not it."

_That _can't _be it._

* * *

**Goldfish: Grandparents in denial. Interesting. Anyway, there's some more Jake/Destiny coming up in the next chapter and also some more Akiza. R+R before I take over the world! Mwahahahahahahahahaha!**


	11. Evil Plotting Twins

**EchoGirl: Sorry it took a while for me to update but here we are!**

**Goldfish: _Finally._**

**EchoGirl: (glares) Well enjoy chapter 10!**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 10**

Once again, Destiny was sitting in her room, curled up on the windowsill. She stared in awe at the mask in her hands. Below her lay the bag that she had taken to her grandparents, its stolen contents spilling out onto the floor.

Her father had insisted that she show him what she had taken. There were some framed photos – one a her mother as a child with Hideo and Setsuko in the background, one of Team 5D's at the WRGP (World Riding Duel Grand Prix) and one of her mother with Black Rose Dragon in the background. There were also a quite few nameless tapes of things that had probably recorded, Destiny didn't really know, she hadn't watched any yet. There was a photo album as well. And of course there was the letter.

_I sure hope they don't notice that these have magically disappeared, _Destiny hoped.

She had willingly shown Yusei all of what she had found and he hadn't made a single remark until she pulled the mask out of the bag.

"Where," he had asked, stuttering slightly, he _never _stuttered, "did you get that?"

She had clutched the mask close to her chest and replied, "White Magician led me to it. She said that it could unlock the secrets of mom's time as the Black Rose."

He had looked away sighing, his eyes filled with memories. "Destiny, are you sure that you want to do this? Sometimes the past should remain buried, and Akiza's story is not a pleasant one."

"Dad," she had replied seriously, "this is something I have to do, I need to know. No one knows what happened to mom while she was the Black Rose, exactly what it was that pushed her to become the Black Rose. Not even you know, and pretty sure my grandparents don't know the full story either. The only people who know what _really _happened are a dead psychopath and mom herself. And even _they _wouldn't know the whole thing. But this," she held up the mask, "this does. It's the key to a world of memories."

"Destiny," her father had tried again, "that mask has a power that no one can understand. It may be a key, but I don't want to think about what knowing those memories, living them, will do to you. And even I'm aware that to completely unlock those memories you're going to have to wear that mask and duel with it. You will have to be the Black Rose."

She had nodded solemnly. "I know. But I have to do this. Just like you had to leave the Satellite and come to New Domino to get Stardust back from Uncle Jack. Everything that you experienced from then on came from that one choice, the Signers, the Crimson Dragon. Everything. That was the key to your destiny, this is the key to mine."

She remembered how his eyes had closed and he had sighed in defeat before putting a hand on her shoulder. "Since when did my little girl get so wise?"

She had flashed him a smile at that. "Runs in the family. But, Dad?"

"Yes?"

"The mask won't corrupt me. I know it."

"How?"

"Because I've got something that Mom didn't get 'til the very end."

He had looked at her curiously, trying to determine an answer. He couldn't. "What?"

She threw her arm around him and rested her head on his chest.

"_You_."

* * *

Jack was the last one to arrive, dropping Jake off on the _Wheel of Fortune. _The five were now gathered in Destiny's room while their fathers chatted downstairs. Vanessa picked up one of the framed pictures that were now sitting on Destiny's bedside table. It was the one with Akiza and Black Rose Dragon on it.

"So, is this your mom?" she asked, fingering the young woman in the picture, tracing her long violet bangs. Her statement caught everyone's attention; they had not yet gotten a proper look at Akiza Izinski.

"Yup," Destiny responded, admiring the photo, "that's her."

"She hot," Chris remarked just before Destiny's fist collided with his face.

"You have the same eye shape," Jake noted, glancing at her.

"And your streaks are the same colour as her hair," Mark added.

_She does look kind of like me, _Destiny thought, comparing her own porcelain skin to that of her mother's. Their facial features were rather similar also, but Destiny's were slightly sharper and more angular, like her father's.

"Hey!" Vanessa exclaimed as she returned the photo to its original position, "it's a Team 5D's photo! Dad has one of these!"

She scooped the picture up and began naming each of the members.

"There's Dad and Uncle Yusei and Uncle Jack – whoa, Jack, you really _do _look like him – and Uncle Bruno and Luna and Leo and there!" she pointed at a violet haired woman in a red and black riding suit standing between Yusei and Bruno. "That must be your mom!"

After looking at the framed photos and commenting on how old Hideo Izinski was they moved onto the photo album, laughing as they passed over certain pictures. It was growing rapidly dark by now; Kalin, Jack and Crow had already left. Downstairs Destiny could hear her father working on the practice duel runner. A tournament was coming up soon.

_I'll be able to enter a tournament soon, _she mused. She was thrown back to earth by the sound of laughter from her friends. She glanced down at the photo that was the source of their amusement and couldn't help but smile herself.

It was of Jack, wounded after his loss against Team Unicorn at the WRGP with three very concerned women holding him up, their eyes shining with adoration.

_Looks like Jake isn't the only one with fangirls._

Amongst the three women she recognised Jake's mother, Carly, and Mina and another girl, a waitress from that café that sold the ridiculously priced coffee that Jack liked. When she was five, Jack had insisted that she try it and she had spat it out into a plant pot as soon as she had tasted the stuff.

There were some other photos too from the WRGP, one with Bruno with his arms slung around the shoulders of Luna and Leo, one with Jack and Crow standing back-to-back and one with Yusei and Akiza. **(AN: Yeah, I know. These are the still pictures that are shown in the end credits during the WRGP)**

"I like this one," Destiny declared, trailing her finger over the one of her parents before sliding it out of its slot and placing it on her beside table beside the framed pictures. "Hey, do you guys want to watch the tapes? I picked a few up from when we were at my grandparents' place."

"And I thought that we weren't suppose to be stealing anything," Chris muttered as Destiny picked up one of the tapes and shoved it into the slot on the TV.

"No," she replied, "_you _weren't suppose to be stealing anything. I can, because it's relevant to me. Besides, we don't want you to make a habit of that of sort of thing. Trudge already thinks you have Mafia connections."

Chris huffed as the recording began to play and Destiny grabbed the popcorn from the foot of the bed that they were all squeezed into and found herself a spot between him and Jake, who she passed the popcorn to.

The recording showed a rollerblading arcade **(if that's what it's called) **and the picture was rather wobbly. The five youngsters jumped in surprise as a face suddenly loomed in front of the camera. All they saw was a fringe of blue-green hair and grey-gold eyes.

"Hi!" it yelled loudly, spooking the viewers yet again.

"Leo!" they heard Luna's voice, "you're holding it way too close to your face!"

"Oh, right," at once the picture zoomed out revealing a much younger version of Leo much like in the photos, only about Vanessa's age. "Anyway, we got dragged along for Yusei and Akiza's date."

"Leo, for the last time," the camera shifted over to Luna, who was leaning on a railing of some sort, "it's not a date! He's helping her find her centre of gravity so she can get her license!"

"Come on," the camera suddenly swivelled around to where Yusei was holding Akiza's hands, helping her balance. Destiny felt a smile tugging at her lips, apart from the still, lifeless photos, she had never seen her parents together. She continued to watch as her mother improved and began to move by herself as young Luna and Leo argued in the background. The recording ended on a snapshot of the two teens laughing together as they skated with Luna and Leo finally agreeing that it was, in fact, a date.

Other recordings played, including a particularly hilarious one involving Jack and his three fangirls with Carly telling the waitress to get lost, Mina threatening Carly –who was latched onto Jack's arm – with arrest if she didn't release him that instant and so on. Everyone apart from Jake was rolling about the bed laughing, Jake merely scowled at the TV and thumped Destiny's back when she started choking on her popcorn. There was also a recording that caught everyone's attention. It was during the WRGP when Akiza syncro summoned twice in one turn, and the shock and disbelief on everyone's face was so amusing that even Jake had to crack a smile. Of course, it wasn't because she syncro summoned twice that everyone was so amazed it was _what _she summoned. Destiny had to admit, Black Rose Dragon and Stardust Dragon looked pretty intimidating on the field together.

The five of them continued to watch the turbo duels from the WRGP, noting the flaws in strategies and the particularly good moves, usually ones that Yusei pulled off. Destiny was awe, she loved watching her father duel and now she was seeing all of Team 5D's at the top of their game.

Of course though, the duels went on for hours and one by one the children of the greatest fell into slumber, leaving the TV to run until Mark's fist collided with the remote (he was one of those people who could only sleep in absolute darkness) and the daughter of the turbo duelling champion slowly fell into a blissful sleep beside her closest friends, not at all aware of how much her public image would alter the next morning.

It wouldn't be until then that she realised just how aggravating getting attention could actually be.

* * *

Mark Kessler awoke to his brother prodding him in the side. He blinked his eyes open to see a face identical to his own looming over him.

"What?" he hissed, irritated that Chris had woken him. He glanced at Destiny's digital clock, the numbers reading quarter past seven. Why in the name of all the freaking Earthbound Immortals did his brother wake him up at a goddamn quarter past seven on a _Sunday morning?_

Then he noticed it. An evil smile was plastered onto his brother's face. What was Chris up to now?

"Wanna be my partner in crime?" he asked.

_Oh, a prank. Makes sense. Only Chris would pull a prank this early in the morning._

"Sure," he grumbled, pushing himself up so he was resting on his elbows.

"Awesome, now look to your right," Chris instructed.

Mark looked to his left to see that Vanessa had fallen out of the bed at some point during the night and had dragged the covers down with her. That explained the chill he felt, at least, but nothing else.

"And…?"

Chris slapped his forehead and glared at his twin, "your _right, _dumbass. Not your left."

"Oh," Mark blushed, turning around to see what it was that Chris had been trying to draw his attention to. At the sight that he saw, he had to put his fist in his mouth to restrain himself from laughing.

Destiny was curled up tightly, almost in a ball, snuggled into Jake's chest, her body fitting perfectly into his, like a puzzle piece. Jake had his arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace, holding her close to him; he was even unconsciously nuzzling her neck slightly! Destiny's long violet-streaked raven hair was acting as a blanket for both of them. He glanced back at his brother who had just produced a camera.

"Let's let the world see the lovebirds," Chris smirked as he snapped several photos of the two before producing a cable which was linked to the already switched-on computer.

Almost immediately Mark joined him and the twins unleashed their havoc onto worldwide internet. They hi-fived and disconnected the camera, their mission complete. It was then that they heard a moan from the direction of the 'lovebirds'. Quicker than lightening the twins hid the camera and dived back into the bed, faking sleep.

They forgot to turn off the computer.

Destiny yawned as she came to, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and glancing at the clock. It was only half past seven. She went to get up and stretch but something wasn't right, something was holding her in place. She glanced down and only just stifled a scream.

Two pale slender arms were wrapped around her midriff, holding her in a tight embrace against a… chest? Her eyes flicked around the room. Chris and Mark were still asleep, she couldn't see Vanessa; but it wasn't Vanessa, this was definitely a male chest. But then that meant…

"Jake!" she squealed, struggling in his arms. She couldn't be seen like this, not with _him_…

"Wha–" Jake let out a yell of surprise and fell out of the bed, taking Destiny down with him.

He let a groan as his back his the floor, and Destiny's added weight on his chest didn't exactly help…

_Wait, a sec, _Destiny!?

His shocked violet eyes met panicked blue ones and he let go of her immediately, rolling away and standing up before lending her a hand. He glanced at his dark haired friend whose normally fair face was the exact shade of a tomato. His own face was also feeling disturbingly warm.

"It's okay," he heard Destiny say, "no one saw."

"Goo–" he broke off as he caught sight of the computer. Forgetting Destiny, he stormed towards it. That was when he saw _the pictures._ He heard Destiny's horrified gasp as she joined him.

"CHRIS!" he yelled. "MARK!"

"Uh, yes?" Chris asked, eyes flashing with uncertainty as he glanced at his brother.

"TAKE THOSE PICTURES OFF THE INTERNET RIGHT NOW!"

"Uh, no can do, bro," Mark replied, "this is the gossip of the century!" then, imitating the repoter, Angela, said, "the people have a right to know the truth!"

"NO, THEY DON'T! SO TAKE IT OFF RIGHT NOW!"

Suddenly, Destiny was at his side with a duel disk on her arm.

Jake saw the two tremble as Destiny approached, drawing a card from her deck.

Vanessa groaned from her spot on the floor.

"Guys?" she asked sleepily, "what's going on?"

All she got in response was Chris and Mark running out the door.

* * *

Yusei awoke to the sound of yelling coming from the next room. Mostly Jake's yelling.

He groaned and got up.

_It's impossible to get any sleep with those five running about._ He thought.

It was then that he heard the door slam and the sound of running footsteps followed by his daughter's voice yelling, "Chris! Mark! If you don't take the pictures off the internet I will use a kuriboh to make sure that you are both never able to have children and then blast you into tomorrow with Red Destiny!"

Yusei flinched at that. A kuriboh? Nasty. Destiny had one hell of an imagination.

Curious as to what the fuss was all about, he wandered into Destiny's room to see Vanessa cracking up over something that was on the computer screen. He walked over to her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You," Vanessa gasped between giggled, "gotta check this out."

She turned the computer screen in his direction and Yusei's face fell.

"Jack is gonna kill me."

* * *

_Later that morning, in the Atlas household_

"Daddy!" Violet Atlas called, approaching her father and tugging on his trench coat.

"What is it?" the tall, blond man in question asked.

"Jake is on the internet! Come see!"

Jack, intrigued as to why his son was on the internet, allowed his daughter to drag him through the house to the computer. His eyes slowly widened to the size of footballs as he watched the slideshow of images.

Violet didn't know whether to be curious or frightened about the fact that her father looked like he was about to burst a know very prominent vein in his forehead.

"Daddy, are you all right?"

Jack, being unable to hold it in any longer, exploded.

"**HE IS SO DEAD!!!"**

* * *

_Meanwhile, in Danson City_

Akiza had been having a perfectly nice day. She had apologised to Damien for her actions a few nights earlier and he had accepted completely. Now she, Jenna, Damien and Nadia were sitting outside a café in the centre of town. Damien was laughing at a video of some sort on his phone.

"Damien, what's so funny?" Jenna asked him.

"This," Damien passed her his phone and Jenna let out a giggle as she watched it with Nadia. "Who would have thought it," Damien continued, "Jack Atlas's son and Yusei Fudo's daughter."

_That _snapped Akiza attention.

"What about Yusei Fudo's daughter?" she asked.

"See for yourself," Jenna passed her the phone. Akiza took it and watched as the pictures came up.

A girl with violet-streaked black hair.

_Destiny, _her mind echoed numbly as a tears threatened their way out. It was the first picture she'd seen of her daughter in almost fourteen years after all. It was then that she remembered what Damien had said.

"_Who would have thought it, Jack Atlas's son and Yusei Fudo's daughter."_

She looked closer at the picture and, yes, there was a younger looking version of Jack there with his arms… wrapped… around her daughter.

Akiza whole life flashed before her eyes and only one thought processed through her mind, repeating itself continually.

Her worst nightmare was coming true.

She dropped the phone unceremoniously and dropped her head into her hands.

"Akiza," Nadia asked, concerned, "what's wrong?"

Akiza's voice was quiet and muffled and Jenna, who was sitting closest, was the only one who could make out her response.

"I'm going to have Jack Atlas grandchildren!"

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, like it? Hate it? You decide. Anyways, next chapter should be up shortly and I'll put something in about Destiny and the mask and how it all... connects.**

**Goldfish: Yeah, _sure._ R+R.**


	12. Cat's Out of the Bag

**EchoGirl: (in sing-song voice) Chapter 11 is up! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's!**

**Goldfish: (also in sing-song voice) No one really cares!**

**EchoGirl: Screw you! You're a goldfish!**

**Goldfish: Who will rule the world!**

**EchoGirl: (back to normal voice) You are a strange, twisted psychopathic goldfish who plots world domination on an hourly basis. You are five centimetres long and live in a glass bowl. And nobody likes you. HOW THE HELL CAN YOU EXPECT TO RULE THE WORLD?**

**Goldfish: Just because I'm not some sad little fourteen-year-old girl who constantly writes and read fanfics 24/7!**

**EchoGirl: That's it. I'm flushing you down the toilet.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 11**

"Akiza," Jenna said once they arrived at their shared apartment, closing the door behind her.

Akiza, having gotten over her earlier shock, looked up at Jenna from where she had plopped herself down on the sofa and flicked on the TV.

"Mm?"

A duel was playing on the TV, a re-run of one of the champion's most recent duels. Akiza, with her attention now focused on her roommate, didn't notice.

"About what you said earlier…"

"What did I say earlier?" Akiza asked, alarmed. She'd never spoken of her life in Domino to anyone and if Jenna had actually heard her 'grandchildren comment' from the café she would have a _lot _of explaining to do.

"You said that that you were going to have Jack Atlas grandchildren, just after Damien showed us those pictures. Something's up, and I'm suspicious. You can't hide anything from me, Aki."

Akiza opened her mouth to reply but at that very moment, an extremely familiar voice sounded from the TV.

"Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

At once Akiza spun round, her attention completely focused on the TV as Stardust Dragon appeared in all its glory to stand beside its master. Slowly, she reached out, as if to touch its pale projected form through the TV.

Jenna, for her part, was completely confused.

_Dude, if watching duelling on TV does _that _to her then its no wonder that she never watches it!_

"Yes, Akiza," she said slowly, as if speaking to a young child, "that's Stardust Dragon. Pretty, isn't it? Now come back to earth!"

"I summoned it once," Akiza mused, a faraway look in her brown eyes, "twice, actually."

This attracted Jenna's attention. "As far as I heard there's only one Stardust Dragon. How were _you _able to summon it?"

But violet haired woman didn't respond and instead she began humming softly, that dreamy look still in her eyes. Jenna didn't think she could take anymore. She waved her hand in front of her best friend's face.

"AKIZA!"

The person in question almost fell off the sofa.

"Geez, Jenna! What is it? I'm not deaf you know!"

"Then rejoin the land of the living; you were just staring stupidly at the TV humming away. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Akiza responded.

"Seriously, Aki. I can tell when something's up."

"I'm fine," Akiza insisted.

"Aki," Jenna sighed, "no one's fine if they're worried about having Jack Atlas grandchildren."

Akiza's face paled at the mention. "Do _not _say that. I'm already trying to get rid of the images of dozens of evil little blond babies."

"Seriously, though. How could you have Jack Atlas grandchildren? You don't even have any–" she broke off, a solution forming in her head.

Akiza had only freaked out after seeing Jake Atlas in the photo but Jenna hadn't missed how her friend had been tearing up before noticing the young blond. It was all beginning to fall into place now. Distracted by the sight of Yusei Fudo and Stardust Dragon, tearing up at a picture of Destiny Fudo and then talking about Jack Atlas grandchildren afterseeing the two young teens together…

"Jenna," Akiza began but was cut off.

"You have _got _to be kidding me."

"What do mean?" Akiza asked cautiously.

Jenna looked the former Black Rose Witch straight in the eye, "are you Destiny Fudo's completely anonymous mother?"

Akiza froze in disbelief, Jenna had worked it out?

_May as well tell the truth now that the cat's out of the bag._

She nodded, dragging her gaze from her best friend back to the TV. Or more particularly to the turbo duellist _on _the TV.

Yusei Fudo; the father of her child.

"I am."

* * *

_Back in New Domino City…_

The rest of the day had gone completely as expected, after _the incident._

Destiny had watched with the others as her father had quickly run out to buy earplugs before Jack arrived. He had no doubt seen the photos.

She had watched in satisfaction as Chris and Mark groaned in pain for the next couple of hours. She and Jake had given them a piece of their mind, and Vanessa had also thrown in a few punches just for the sake of it. The two of them were now thoroughly battered but the pictures still hadn't come off the internet. Destiny blushed bright scarlet. She would never be able to look at Jake the same way again. Nor he her.

Jack had done completely as expected and first yelled at Yusei, who – unknown to him – was wearing earplugs, about how he should control his seductress daughter. Destiny reminded herself to pound him later for that; or at least put something in his coffee.

After Jack had left, dragging Jake by the ear behind him, Kalin had arrived to collect the twins. With a raised eyebrow, he had enquired as to why his boys where in such a poor physical state, everyone had pitched in on an explanation and the ice blue haired former Dark Signer had declared that it "served them right" and proceeded to drag both Chris and Mark out by the ears.

Crow had been the last to arrive and after being filled in on the situation he laughed, saying that he just _had _to check out those photos – earning a glare from Destiny in the process – before congratulating his daughter on helping Destiny and Jack _relieve their antagonistic emotions _towards the twins. Father and daughter then left the house laughing.

Destiny had smiled and rolled her eyes – she really needed to get out of that habit – before walking over to stand by her father.

"You know," she told him, "I consider everyone family. Jack, Carly, Kalin, Louisa, Crow, Emma, Jake, Mark, Chris, Vanessa, Violet, Dylan, everyone. But for a family, we're a pretty messed up one."

Yusei had laughed and agreed with her on that. They were all one big, messed up family indeed.

"You got that right for sure."

* * *

_Later that evening…_

It was shortly after nightfall that Destiny first donned the ragged dark and dress cloak of the Black Rose Witch. Standing before the mirror, she was amazed by how different she looked, even without the mask and hood. She was transformed from the young, talented duellist into a, well, witch.

She left her duel disk and deck upstairs, tonight was just a tryout – she wasn't actually going to anything, just walk around a bit in the lower levels and get a feel for this new persona.

The voices of the mask whispered to her as she descended the staircase, voices from her mother's past.

The shadowy form of her father met her at the bottom of the staircase.

"Destiny," he pleaded, "you don't have to do this."

She shook her head. "Yes, I do. Please, Dad, I'll be fine, nothing will happen to me. I'm not Mom. I won't become a heartless witch."

"I know you won't." Destiny felt the mask being removed from her grip. "Here, let me."

Pushing the stray strands of long violet-streaked hair out of her face, Yusei slid the pale, expressionless mask into place of his daughter's face. She pulled up the cowl of the cloak. He couldn't even recognise her anymore.

He watched as she silently slipped out of the house and it was at that moment that he realised that he truly did have faith in her. Destiny was right, she wasn't Akiza. She wasn't the Black Rose, and she never would be. She had people who loved and supported her, something her mother never had, not at that stage, and he knew that she would not fall down the dark, painful path that her predecessor had.

This was her job, her duty. Something she had to do, with unlocking Akiza's past she would finally discover herself.

It was her destiny.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well. That was interesting.**

**Goldfish: The plot thickens!**

**EchoGirl: It's good to see that we're finally getting along.**

**Goldfish: For now... mwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... cough...**

**EchoGirl: Sigh. Or not. R+R please.**


	13. Of Jealousy and Scorn

**EchoGirl: I'm _ba-ack!_ Anyways, I have a very special announcement to make. 1supergirl4, you have just made my day! And everyone else who reviewed too, of course; I now have 100 reviews for A Rose in the Stars! YAY!**

**Goldfish: (yawns) EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 12**

It had been all over the newspapers. The return of the Black Rose. Spotted last night in the alleys of New Domino City. It was the biggest piece of news since Yusei Fudo had defeated Jack Atlas and won the Fortune Cup.

Destiny groaned as she pushed the fifth newspaper that she had looked at that day across the table towards Vanessa, who promptly picked it up. There it was again, her picture, hooded and masked, on the front page.

She hadn't _meant _to get caught. And by a man with a camera, no less.

"Uh," she groaned, "I can't believe that guy saw me. Now everyone expects the Black Rose to be around the corner."

"Your loss," Jake replied, taking a bite of the pizza that the gang were sharing.

Destiny hung her head. Last night had _not _gone as planned and now she was all over the headlines. Great. Fabulous. That was all she needed; more publicity. All the female Duel Academy students had already been giving her the stink eye _all _day and now she had this Black Rose business to deal with.

"I'm so screwed," she muttered, resting her elbows on the table.

"That you are," Chris replied, grabbing a slice of pizza. Destiny glowered at him.

"I still haven't forgiven you yet, you know."

"And I'm still sore from your bashing. Geez, I'm sorry, okay?"

"I won't forgive you until both of you are literally on your knees,_ begging_ for our forgiveness," Jake told the twins with a smirk.

Mark shook his head. "Nu-uh."

"Not happening," Chris agreed.

Vanessa opened her mouth to respond but before they could, a voice sounded from behind them.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. The troublemakers."

The five friends twisted in their seats to see Chania facing them with narrowed eyes, two of her tall, lanky friends flanking her.

"What do you want, Chania?" Destiny sighed.

"I heard that you lot broke into Senator Izinski's house," the blonde fourteen-year-old told them smugly.

_Damn, _Destiny thought, _I forgot that her dad works – and is pretty good friends – Hideo Izinski! How could my own grandfather humiliate me like this in front of my arch nemesis? Damn you, Grandpa._

"How interesting," Mark responded dully with a wave of his hand, dismissing her, "nobody cares."

But Chania was not to be dismissed. The girl obviously couldn't take a hint.

"Actually, almost everyone's been talking about it."

_Great, just what I need. _More _publicity._

"More like you've been spreading rumours and petty gossip," Vanessa spat, disgusted, "not like you could expect anymore from some fake, rich blonde skank."

**(AN: No offence to any blondes; I'm a blonde myself. The comment just seemed to fit.)**

Chania's whole expression darkened at Vanessa's comment, and her face began to turn a very disturbing tomato colour – like she'd eaten about fifty chillies at once – and for a moment Destiny was worried that Chania was actually going to slap the young redhead. But she calmed and responded with a tongue that could slice metal.

"Vanessa Hogan, I never thought that you could sink so low, but then again, aren't _both_ you're parents from the Satellite? I shouldn't be surprised. Bad blood." She glared at them all. "Evidently it runs in the family."

Vanessa recoiled and her head jerked back from Chania's words, almost as if she had been slapped. Destiny swore that she could see the unshed tears in her eyes.

_That's it. Chania's gone too far this time._

She stood up and faced the older girl.

"There's nothing wrong with people from the Satellite, Chania," she growled, her hands bundled into fists by her side. She felt her companions move into position behind her, flanking her: Jake to her right, Chris to her right, Mark beside Jake and Vanessa beside Chris. "Most of them are better than the snobs from Tops. I can't believe you just said that."

"Besides," Chris added, "the Satellite and New Domino are one now. The views on class separation between those two parts of Domino have been abolished. They don't exist anymore."

"But it's still there," Chania insisted. "You're worthless, all of you. Everyone with Satellite blood in them is."

"So is that all we are?" Jake asked her, his voice steely and icy cold. "Dirt beneath your feet?"

Chania looked shocked, as if she hadn't realised that the object of her infatuation had been present. Or that she had just insulted him _big time._

"N-not you, Jake, I didn't mean y-you, j-just the others," she stammered as Jake approached her. Once he was standing before her he used every one of the traits that he had inherited from her father and glared down at her from his superior height (despite the fact that she was almost two years older than him). His icy violet gazed caused her to shake in her expensive silver stilettos.

Destiny couldn't help but smirk at her obvious terror.

"I know exactly what meant, _Chania. _You insulted my friends, and everyone else whose parents were originally from the Satellite, and that includes me. You're truly pathetic, you know that? My father, the person that I admire most in the world, was born in the Satellite and he's one of the greatest duellists ever. So is Vanessa's father. And Destiny's father was raised in the Satellite and he _is_ the greatest duellist. And if you mean to insult my friends' parents, remember that they are like family to me. You insult them you insult me. And," he added, "for the record, I completely agree with Vanessa's earlier comment."

He winked at the redhead and Chania's face fell. It was obvious that Jake's verbal bashing had shocked her. But she wasn't ready to give in quite yet. Instead, she turned to Destiny, a malicious grin twisting her face.

"And what about Destiny's mother? What sort of a duellist is she? Oh, wait, nobody knows."

Destiny had never had as strong an urge to punch someone as she did with Chania now.

_Okay. _She decided. _She just crossed the line._

It was time to teach Chania Deltoure a lesson.

"All right, Deltoure," she said, "you've pushed it too far this time. You've insulted me, insulted my friends, and insulted my parents. It's time you learnt your place."

Chania raised an elegantly plucked eyebrow at her. "What are you proposing?" she asked.

Reaching for her bag, Destiny pulled out her duel disk and slipped it onto her left arm.

"Duel me."

Chania glared at her.

"Bring it, Fudo."

**(AN: Okay. I **_**cannot **_**write duels, so I'm just going to skip to the last turn. They moved their fight to the duel arena, by the way.)**

* * *

Jake stood silently with Vanessa, Chris and Mark, watching the duel. Chania truly had no concept of the game, and Destiny already had a massive lead. The duel would be over this turn, if not the next. He could tell.

"Go for it, Destiny!" Vanessa cheered.

"Yeah, beat her into a such a messy pulp that not even the cleaners will be able to scrape her bloody remains off the floor!"

Jake dared a glance at Chris, as did the everyone else watching the duel (AKA, the whole school). That kid had serious issues.

_Sadistic psychopath, _Jake thought, thoroughly disturbed by the mental images of Chris's earlier words that he was now being plagued with.

As Chania announced the end of her turn, Jake dragged his gaze back to the two female duellists. They were so different, he noted, even their decks. Chania tall and tanned with her flowing blonde hair and deck of what appeared to be full of ballerinas or prom princesses, or something along those lines. And then there was Destiny, the complete opposite of her opponent with her powdery white skin and long dark hair and her one-of-a-kind Fate deck.

The score stood at Chania with 2100 life points and one synchro monster on the field – a tall female with a large poofy dress on, apparently named 'Prom Queen' with 2700/1000 attack and defence points. Her ace monster, apparently. Looking at it gave Jake the incredible urge to run to the bathroom and hurl. Thankfully, though, he resisted that urge. Vanessa was practically rolling around on the floor in hysterics at the stupidity of Chania's deck.

Destiny had 2600 life points and also had only one synchro monster on the field – a favourite of hers, White Magician of Fate (AKT: 1900 DEF: 1500). Neither duellist had a facedown or any other cards on the field. Destiny only needed to draw one certain card to win this. She had Chania backed into a corner.

"My draw," the raven-haired duellist announced, drawing a card. She looked at it and smirked.

_Obviously she drew the right one, _Jake mused.

"Now I play my spell card, Unity of the Fates!"

"What does that do?" Chania asked, confused. Jake rolled his eyes. Destiny had already beaten her using Unity of the Fates before. She was obviously a poor duellist – not that he wasn't already aware of _that _particular fact – if she couldn't even remember what the card did.

"It means that if I have one Magician of Fate on the on the field, which I do, that with the sacrifice of one thousand life points, I can summon her sisters directly from my deck to the field, so come on out Black Magician of Fate and Crimson Magician of Fate!"

Black Magician of Fate – Level 5 Spellcaster. AKT: 1700, DEF: 1500

**Crimson Magician of Fate – Level 5 Spellcaster. AKT: 1600 DEF: 1800**

Chania: 2100 LP Destiny: 1600 LP

"No way," Chania murmured as the three sister magicians stood side by side. Crimson and Black Magician looked almost exactly like White Magician except that their hair, cloaks and staffs were different colours.

"But they're attack points," Chania pointed out, "are still no where near that of my Prom Queen's."

"Oh, I know." Destiny responded breezily, "that's why I'm activating my Crimson Magician's special ability. She may not be very powerful by herself, but when her sisters are with her on the field for one turn she can attack with their combined power of all three Magicians of Fate!"

Chania's eyes widened and Jake smirked while the others whooped as Crimson Magician of Fate crossed her arms over her chest and was engulfed in black and white flames, she glowed with power as the gem in her staff shone radiantly with a white, red and black light. Her attack points had risen to 4200. And unfortunately for Chania, she had no traps or other face down cards on the field.

"Crimson Magician of Fate, Red Destiny Attack!"

The Crimson Magician rose up into the air, brandishing her staff, pointing it a Chania's Prom Queen before a red blaze erupted from it, blasting the other monster into oblivion. Chania screamed as her life points dropped.

Chania: 600 LP Destiny: 1600 LPShe was on her knees, breathing heavily after the dust had cleared after Crimson Magicians attack. The said monster was back on Destiny's side of the field, attack points returned to 1600. Shakily, Chania got to her feet."I'm not done yet!" Destiny called. "I still have two magicians left and ready to attack!"

_Here we go, _Jake thought, watching in anticipation.

"White Magician of Fate!" she raised her arm dramatically and pointed at Chania, "attack Chania directly! Go, White Destiny Attack!"

Once again one of Destiny's prized magicians rose into the air and aimed her staff, this time directly at the foul-mouthed blonde, and blasted her right off her feet.

"And that's that," Destiny said, deactivating her duel disk as the holograms faded and dusting off her uniform. Chania slowly got to her feet and merely glared at the victor before running off to join her friends.

Jake and the others headed towards the dark-haired duellist.

"You sure must make your dad proud," Mark commented, clapping her on the back.

"Yeah!" Vanessa exclaimed, "you beat her in under four turns this time!"

Destiny smiled and blushed at their compliments.

"You didn't use your psychic powers on her," Chris noted, examining his fingers. Destiny shook her head.

"I'm not suppose to flaunt them, Chris, and even though I know how much you wanted to see Chania as a messy pulp on the floor, she isn't worth it."

"You got that right," Jake nodded.

"It's a shame you didn't summon Red Destiny, at least," Chris grumbled, "I would have loved to have seen the look on her make-up smothered face if she saw _it _in battle."

Vanessa huffed. "The last thing Chania deserves to see is Destiny's dragon. She should consider herself honoured that she even got to see the Magicians of Fate. All that she deserves to be beaten with is a Kuriboh with rabies."

"Ew," Destiny shuddered.

"Enough, chit-chat," Jake interrupted. "We need to see what we're going to do about Destiny's Black Rose publicity crisis, since _someone _decided to get caught on their first outing."

"Shut up," Destiny muttered, shoving him as the five friends headed out of the arena and to class.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Yeah, I know that none of the cards I used were real but who cares? There might be a few more snippets of duels later on but I don't think that I'm going to have a whole duel in this story - at all. So, yeah, hope you liked it and please, please, please review!**


	14. Impostor

**EchoGirl: Well, here comes another short, filler-in chapter. But this one's pretty important. I should have my next longer chapter up pretty soon, _I hope..._**

**Goldfish: Yeah, you do hope.**

**EchoGirl: Just do the friggin' disclaimer already!**

**Goldfish: Well, _someone _has issues. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Happy?**

**EchoGirl: Yes. Thank you.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 13**

"Akiza," Jenna greeted as she entered the living room of their shared apartment.

Akiza, whose many secrets she had only just learnt, glanced up from her place curled up reading on the sofa.

"You might want to see this," the brunette told her best friend, tossing a newspaper at her. It landed squarely on the violet haired woman's lap. Akiza's face paled as she read the headline.

Urban legend, the Black Rose, spotted in New Domino City

Grabbing the newspaper in her hands, Akiza's eyes scanned the article.

For the first time in over fifteen years, the legendary Black Rose has been spotted in the lower levels of New Domino City downtown at approximately 11:30pm on Sunday night. It was stated by witness Dobby Thunderman, who caught a picture of the presumed 'witch' – see below – that the dreaded psychic duellist had not been duelling, or even carrying a duel disk, but that it was almost as if she were "just wandering around on a stroll". That does not mean that people should not be careful, we are expecting to see a lot more of the dreaded Black Rose Witch on the streets on New Domino…

Not needing to read anymore, already paralysed from shock, she quickly looked down the page for the picture that the witness had taken. She froze, dropping the newspaper, when she found it.

It was dark and more than a little bit blurry –the hands of the man who had taken the photo had obviously been shaking – but the moonlight was shining on the figure and everything was exactly the same. The raggedy old cloak, the tattered dress underneath, and the face. Her face was turned away to the side but was caught in the full glare of the full moon. The mask. The exact same mask. Eerie white, red slashes at the eyes, even the cracks where the mask had been glued back together.

"H-how?" Akiza gasped once she had found her voice.

"I don't know," Jenna replied, sitting down next to her and picking up the paper, "I was hoping that you could tell me."

Akiza shook her head, still coming to grips with what she had just seen. The text meant nothing compared to the picture.

"Well," Jenna began logically, "it must be an impostor. It can't be the _real_ Black Rose Witch, because _you're _the real Black Rose Witch. Maybe someone cloned you."

Akiza let out a dry, nervous laugh.

"I don't remember that ever happening."

"But you have no idea who it might be?"

Once again, the violet haired duellist shook her head. "None at all. But I do know for certain that those are the exact clothes and mask that I wore during my time as the Black Rose and that I left them at my parents'."

"Maybe it's your mom?"

"No way on earth. She'd be crushed by an Earthbound Immortal before she dressed up as the Black Rose."

Jenna frowned slightly, she was still getting used to those phrases that Akiza used. Now, at least, she finally knew what they meant. A lot of the gaps had been filled in over the weekend. Her best friend – the one that she had known almost since _birth – _had a whole other life that she'd never told anyone about. A kid too.

To say that Jenna had been ticked when she'd found out was an understatement.

"Well," Akiza said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her deck, "this impostor hasn't duelled yet and when she does," she flipped over the first card, revealing Black Rose Dragon, "we'll find out who she really is."

* * *

Setsuko Izinski had raced upstairs the moment she and her husband had read that morning's newspaper. Only two thoughts passed through her mind, repeating themselves constantly.

Black Rose… Akiza…

Could her daughter really be back as the Black Rose? Somehow, she couldn't believe it. She wanted Akiza back more than anything but not as the Black Rose. Akiza swore that she had renounced that path forever.

She burst into her daughter's room, Hideo right behind her, coughing as she got a face full of dust. She and her husband hadn't touched the room since their daughter, their little rose, had disappeared, leaving nothing but a now misplaced note.

But it was different now. Setsuko came into this room everyday – yesterday and the day before, understandably, being the only exception – and she knew its layout better than the back of her own hand. And it took her no time to notice as her brown eyes scanned the dust filled room.

Things were missing. Framed photos were gone from the bedside, a photo album from the desk, tapes from the shelf.

Walking over, the sixty-one-year-old **(AN: Yeah, I made that up…) **peered into the abandoned cardboard box where Akiza had kept her old Black Rose outfit in, normally Setsuko despised the sight of the thing but today she had to check something.

It was empty. The cloak was gone. The dress too. She looked at the ground where a rumpled piece of old brown wrapping paper lay discarded. The mask was gone.

Hideo stood beside her, his arm sliding around her waist as she shook. She could feel him stiffen in shock and surprise as he too noticed what was missing.

"But no one's been in here…" he murmured.

All of a sudden, both husband and wife recalled the events that happened two days prior.

The couple's eyes met. Hideo swore.

"Those kids…" he muttered as he realised.

At that moment Setsuko recalled how she and her husband had entered the house, surprised at how the door was unlocked when they were positive that they had locked it, only to see four unruly youngsters gathered in the hallway. How they had rallied them up and they had abided without complaint as Hideo had lectured and yelled at them. Then a fifth had joined them, an incredibly familiar looking girl with long violet-streaked raven hair and soul-seeing sapphire eyes, a full bag under her arm.

She had joined them from upstairs.

With a sudden jolt of realisation, Setsuko looked up at her husband. It all made sense now.

"Destiny Fudo was up here."

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Remember, with every good review the goldfish's dream over ruling the world gets further and further away!**

**Goldfish: Yeah, it sucks. Really sucks.**


	15. Witch of Dark Destiny

**EchoGirl: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack... huff... puff...**

**Goldfish: Jeez. Don't strain yourself. **

**EchoGirl: Yeah... anyways, here's chapter 14! I hope you like it!**

**Goldfish: And EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 14**

With a loud sigh, Destiny plonked herself down next to Vanessa on the couch.

"My life is so messed up," she muttered, rubbing her temples. Maybe she should have waited a couple of months before going ahead with that Black Rose thing.

"Ya, think?" Mark asked sarcastically from where he was slouched beside Jake.

Jake nodded. "You have your little Black Rose escapade to deal with, an arch nemesis in Chania to deal with, the new WRGP coming up later this month _and _it's my birthday tomorrow."

Chris rolled his eyes from his spot on the floor. "Like we could forget _that."_

Jake glared at the ice blue-haired boy but before he could reply, Vanessa spoke. "And you're grandparents are no doubt going to notice that something's up. They're not stupid."

Destiny groaned and buried her face in one of the cushions. "I'm such an idiot. Why did I have to get caught?"

"Because you were being incredibly stupid and not paying the least bit of attention and now you are paying for it by reaping huge amounts of unwanted publicity and attention. You have now learnt your lesson. Don't be an idiot," Jake pointed out unhelpfully.

Destiny glared at him. "Thank you so much for reminding me, jerk."

"Well, it's not like you can just stop now," Mark told her, "people think that the Black Rose is back, and they'll be looking for you."

"But I'm _not _the Black Rose Witch!" Destiny cried, "I'm just trying to discover my mother's past. I can't pretend to be the Black Rose because she's not a part of me. I can't empathise with her. My mom could. But I can't. Plus," she added quietly, "I can't be the Black Rose if I don't have Black Rose Dragon."

"Then you're just going to have to be someone else," Jake reasoned, "someone you can empathise with. Be yourself. You don't have Black Rose Dragon, but you _do _have Red Destiny Dragon."

Destiny closed her eyes. She knew exactly what Jake meant, what they all meant. And she knew that, if she wanted to solve this mystery, then that was what had to do. It was exactly what she hoped she'd never have to do. Create an alter ego, an alias. She would have to do exactly what Akiza had done. She could not help but doubt herself.

_No, _she told herself, _I can do this. I won't let an alternate persona take me over. I'll stay strong. _She glanced at her friends. _After all, I have everything I need._

"Alright," she said finally, "I'll do it. But I'll need you guys to be with me on this."

"You can always count on me!" Vanessa announced from beside her, throwing an arm around the raven-haired duellist's shoulders.

"A chance to mess with society?" Chris asked, grinning, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The others couldn't help but roll their eyes at that.

"I'm wherever you guys are," Mark agreed.

All eyes turned to the blond, almost thirteen-year-old who was sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Whatever," he said with a simple, dismissive wave of his hand.

"Group hug!" Vanessa yelled, roughly pulling the others into an awkward circle.

"Nu-uh," Jake shook his head, "I don't do group hugs."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Cold, Aloof and Serious," the redhead said, "give it a break," before grabbing him by the arm and forcing him into the circle.

"Ow!" he exclaimed as his forehead collided with Destiny's. The girl in question laughed and rubbed her spot.

"Sorry, Jake," she apologised, blushing.

"No, problem," he muttered he muttered in reply, a pale pink also staining his pale cheeks.

Chris, Mark and Vanessa merely snickered and winked at each other.

"They're so oblivious."

* * *

"So," Destiny asked nervously as she twirled before the rest of the gang, mask in hand, "what do think?"

"You look exactly as you did in the newspaper," Jake remarked dryly, eyeing her tattered attire, "doesn't compliment you much."

Vanessa resisted the urge to throw something at him.

"You look great," she insisted, "put the mask on."

Destiny complied, and slid the mask onto herself and pulled up the hood of the cloak.

Silence reigned supreme.

"You," Chris began after a moment's pause, "look exactly like the Black Rose."

Destiny laughed, her voice slightly muffled behind the mask. "That's the whole point."

"You're not going to be recognised anytime soon," Mark commented as Destiny removed the mask.

It was then that something struck her.

"Guys," she said slowly, "what am I going to about Red Destiny? It's a one of a kind."

"Don't have that equip spell?" Jake suggested after a few seconds, "you never use it and it completely changes Red Destiny's appearance. Plus, it's quite suitable for the situation."

"Yeah!" Chris agreed, "what's it called? Dark… dark…"

"Down the Dark Path," Destiny interrupted. She wasn't particularly fond of the card. It worked specifically with her fate deck and particularly well on Red Destiny, yet she couldn't help but feel that the card tainted it. But it was a perfect solution.

"Okay," she gave in, "I'll try it."

She headed upstairs and hastily changed back into her usual attire, shoving the cloak and mask unceremoniously into a bag and throwing it over her shoulder. She grabbed her duel disk and deck before heading downstairs to rejoin the rest of the gang.

They were headed for downtown New Domino. Where the street duels were.

* * *

With Jake, Vanessa, Chris and Mark by her side Destiny slipped into an empty alley and donned the cloak. After watching a few street duels, she and the others had noticed just how many people where watching. But they weren't really watching the duels – they were waiting for something.

For her.

"I'm just going to equip Down the Dark Path to Red Destiny in advance," she told the others, drawing two cards from her deck.

With a loving smile on her face, she gently stroked the first card.

It was a beautiful creature. Each pearly white scale on its serpent-like body **(AN: Think the Crimson Dragon, Slifer the Sky Dragon), **it's large wings spread out, the webbing a glittering red, more glittering red splotches dancing across its body. Red eyes stared at her from the paper.

She felt the dragon's spirit form materialise beside her. She turned and gently stroked its bowed head **(AN: Red Destiny's head is a bit like Stardust's, it's just white, red and gold instead of white, blue and purple). **It let out a small grumble.

"Hey," she greeted, "I'm need to equip Down the Dark Path to you."

The dragon grumbled again and it's raven-haired mistress smiled sadly at it.

"I know that you don't like it, but I can't show you to them. And yes," she said before the dragon could let out another irritated sound, "I know that you're far more attractive in this form. But don't worry," she rubbed its head, "you're beautiful to me no matter what."

At this Red Destiny seemed much more content – it was a rather vain creature after all – Destiny gave it a small kiss on the head before it disappeared completely, back into her deck. She had little doubt that it would do as she asked.

Smiling, she turned to the others, all of whom looked very shocked and surprised – Jake even looked slightly jealous! They still couldn't understand the bond that she shared with her monsters especially with Red Destiny. To them it looked like she was just talking to thin air. If they hadn't known about her abilities, a call to the mental hospital would have been made a _long _time ago.

Using her middle and index finger, she thrust her favourite card onto the duel disk.

"Red Destiny Dragon!" she announced as her creature appeared in all its proud glory with an ear-splitting roar.

She heard murmurs and whispers from the courtyard they'd just come from. She glared at the dragon, now towering almost forty feet above her. "Could you keep it down?" she hissed, the dragon cast her _the look._

She rolled her eyes. Typical dragon.

"Now I equip Down the Dark Path to Red Destiny," she whispered, throwing the card down and watching as Red Destiny was surrounded in a cloud of pure black mist.

"Show yourself," she continued as the mist began to clear, the others watched in anticipation, "Dark Destiny Dragon!"

With the mist finally gone, Jake, Vanessa, Chris and Mark simultaneously gasped in awe and surprise.

Red Destiny had, by turning to the darkness, gained a boost of five hundred attack points – bring its attack up to 3000 – and instead of its usual, pure appearance its white and red scales were now covered in smoky black spirals, even on the webbing in the wings. It's claws, instead of being gold, were now black, and its eyes were now rimmed with a menacing black, highlighting its red irises. Apart from that, it was still the same, only now it wielded the power of darkness instead of light.

Destiny stumbled backwards, her hand at her heart. It had been so long since she had seen her beloved dragon look so… malicious. Jake moved forward to support her.

The creature – still beautiful and majestic – turned to her and lowered itself, so as its head brushed her cheek. She stroked it gently and pressed her face into the side of its head.

"I know it's still you," she whispered, "we're both under disguises. I don't doubt you."

The dragon growled softly. It was not truly malicious. It was still Red Destiny. She had to admit, it felt nice to have a companion with her on this. Not that her friends weren't with her, but they weren't disguised, doing what she was doing.

"You all right?" Jake asked, releasing her.

She nodded and slid on the mask, pulling up the cowl of the tattered violet cloak. She turned to her dragon, one hand still resting on its neck.

"Let's get this party started."

* * *

Her entrance was a grand one. Maybe a bit too fancy for her taste, but it caught the people's attention. She had appeared in a burst of red and black flames, her dragon right behind her, its flapping wings sent gusts wind in the direction of the spectators. There was silence for several moments before the whispers began.

"That's her!"

"The Black Rose?"

"She can't be the Black Rose!"

"Look at her dragon!"

Several shocked and awed gasps followed that remark. Destiny could only just muffle a snicker as the creature behind her raised its head proudly.

"Wow! Look at it!"

"Not even Black Rose Dragon could compare to that thing!"

"Who's got a camera?"

"Yeah! Someone get a picture!"

_Oh, don't have enough media attention as it is? _Destiny groaned inwardly. _This must be my lucky month._

She saw the flashes of several cameras, and recoiled slightly from the blinding flash.

Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for what she had to do. The pavements here were poorly made and she had heard that they were going to be replaced soon anyway. She smirked beneath the mask. Perfect.

_Red Destiny, _she transferred her order mentally, twisting her head she saw her dragon nod, it had heard her, _attack the pavement on my command, but don't hurt anyone._

The dragon behind her bowed its head – both a sign of acknowledgement and revealing that it was gathering power for an attack.

"Dark Destiny Dragon!" she yelled, thanking the Crimson Dragon that her voice was not recognisable beneath the mask, pointing at the crowd. "Attack with Dark Destiny Flare!"

With a high-pitched roar, the dragon released a huge breath of swirling black flames – destroying the pavement but not the spectators. She stood motionless as people screamed, jumping back, away from the shadowy flames. She used the confusion to play a trap card, letting the destroyed concrete swallow her up, and allowed her beloved dragon to return to her deck.

The flames died away as she vanished, and people stared at each other. What had just happened? Was anyone hurt?

No. The ground was destroyed but everyone was safe.

There was one thing that the people knew for sure, though. That was _not _their feared Black Rose Witch. She was someone else. Someone else with that strange, terrifying ability.

A new name was required.

* * *

From the shadows, a figure watched through narrowed eyes.

A new Black Rose?

A new, immensely powerful psychic?

A new commander of a dragon?

A malevolent grin spread across the shadowed face of the said figure. _Perfect_.

Tipping their hat to the spot where this newcomer had stood, they spoke in a tone laced with malice.

"'Til we meet again, Witch of Dark Destiny."

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, any good? Tell me what you... wait a sec! Where'd the goldfish go? Aw, crap, I hope he's not breaking into a bank again...**

**Goldfish: I'm right here! But now that you mention it...**

**EchoGirl: Oh, nu-uh, oh, no you don't! No way in hell.**

**Goldfish: Fine, be a killjoy.**

**EchoGirl: I've got my eye on you!**

**Goldfish: Wow, I'm scared! Review, people.**

**EchoGirl: I can't believe I'm still sane...**

**Goldfish: I dare to contradict that statement!**

**EchoGirl: Shut up!**


	16. The Truth is Out

**EchoGirl: So, here it is, the chapter I know quite a lot of you have benn waiting for!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 15**

"So," Destiny asked as she rose up from the ground behind her friends, "what did you think?"

With a jump and cry of surprise, the others spun around to face her.

She gave a small snicker as she removed the mask. "Gotcha."

"Don't do that!" Mark reprimanded, breathing deeply after the fright she had given him and the rest of the gang.

"Sorry," she apologised as she shrugged off the cloak and held out a hand for the bag that Vanessa was holding. The redhead handed it over and she bundled the cloak into it, placing the mask carefully on top before zipping it shut and swinging it over her shoulder. "But seriously, did I do a good job?"

"Perfectly scary and mysterious," Chris told her, scratching the back of his head, "completely in character. Nice job on the sidewalk too, by the way. Public maintenance is gonna be really happy about that."

"They were going to replace it anyway," Destiny replied, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "They should be thanking me – I've done them a favour."

"Sure you have," Vanessa responded with a roll of her eyes and grabbed Destiny's sleeve, "let's get moving before anyone notices and starts wondering why the kids of some of the most famous duellists in the world are hanging about in a dark, abandoned alley. And," she wiggled her eyebrows at Jake and Destiny, "if _you two _are recognised some people might get the wrong idea."

Destiny pulled away from Vanessa and she and Jake shot a glare at the sheepish looking twins. She had almost forgotten about those pictures.

"Are you even old enough to be thinking about that sort of stuff?" Jake asked Vanessa, who blushed bright red.

"That's not what I meant!" she cried back at him while at the same time Chris fell to knees, burying his face in his hands, screaming "Images!"

Mark visibly shuddered and Destiny had turned the world's brightest shade of red. Jake merely grabbed Chris by the ear and hauled him up, promptly yelling, "get your mind out of the gutter!" at him before gesturing to the others that it was time to leave.

The journey back to Destiny's house was fairly uneventful. Jake, Chris and Mark where locked in conversation about some new duel monsters that they had seen and commenting on Destiny's earlier performance while Destiny and Vanessa had eventually ended up talking about what they were going to be wearing for the WRGP opening evening.

"I'm jealous of the guys," Destiny admitted to her younger friend, "they get to wear anything. We have to dress up for these sort of things."

"Tell me about it," Vanessa agreed, clasping her hands behind her head as they walked behind the boys, "we're always frowned upon if we don't look just right. I don't even _own _a dress."

"Me neither," Destiny sighed. It was then that the realisation struck her and she twisted her head to face Vanessa. "You know what that means…"

Vanessa's face twisted in horror. "No way."

Destiny's voice was grim as she spoke, her face equally so, "I'm afraid so."

"Shopping," the two groaned together, hanging their heads.

"Have fun with that!" Mark called back from in front of them as he, Jake and Chris snickered, knowing all too well of their female friends' detest of dress shopping.

"Rub it in!" Vanessa called back angrily as the five of them turned into the cobblestone square where the Fudo residence stood. Home sweet home.

Just one thing was wrong with this picture.

An all too familiar figure stood at the door, banging loudly on the front door. Slowly the gang approached. The newcomer didn't notice them.

"Alright, open this door now! I've been here for almost half an hour now, so open this damn door now, Fudo!" the tall, heavily built man continued to bang loudly.

_Jeez, _Destiny thought, _ever thought that someone might not be home? For a respected public maintenance officer, this guy isn't very smart._

"Ah-hem," she cleared her throat loudly, successfully gaining the man's attention, a scarred, tanned face swung round to face her, "is there something that I can help you with, Officer Trudge?"

"Cut it with the pleasantries, Miss Fudo," Trudge snapped back at her, "you know exactly why I'm here."

_Well this is just perfect. Couldn't it have taken the Izinskis a _little _bit longer to work it out? _She sighed inwardly as Trudge glared at her. _Evidently not. May as well play dumb for now._

"Not really, officer," she replied, "but if you're looking for my father to prevent another apocalypse, I'm afraid he's not in right now."

Trudge growled. "Actually, Destiny, I'm looking for you. Turns out you _did _steal something during your little escapade in Senator Izinski's house. Something very valuable to him and his wife."

_Not good. Can't my grandparents cut me some slack? It's not even been a week!_

"Why would you think that?"

Trudge bent down to her height and stared right into her cat-like sapphire eyes. "Don't play dumb," he told her, "I know just how smart you are," he glanced up at the others, "all of you. Mad, evil, plotting geniuses. It seems to be a puberty stage that runs in the family." He stood up. "I'm taking you to Security HQ where you can formerly apologise to the Izinskis."

He gestured towards the police car parked just to their left. Jake stepped forward and gave Trudge the typical Atlas glare.

"Wherever Destiny goes, we go," he told the older man. The others stepped up behind them and nodded.

Trudge shook his head, "no. Just Fudo."

"Oh, really, _officer?" _Jake asked, taking a step forward but was blocked by Destiny's outstretched arm obstructing his path.

"It's fine," she told him, "you guys just go. I'll be fine."

The others gave her doubtful words but after some convincing they finally turned and began to head back to their different homes.

"Oh! Vanessa!" Destiny called after the redhead, who turned, "Dad said he was going to be at your place so could you tell him that if I'm not back I'm at Security HQ!"

"Sure thing!" Vanessa called back before shooting Destiny a thumbs up, "and good luck!"

"I'm gonna need it," Destiny muttered, flexing her left arm – which still bore her duel disk – as Trudge led her to the vehicle and slid into the back seat.

Trudge stood outside for a moment, watching the four children head in different directions, before getting into the driver's seat. He shook his head and sighed. The Enforcers had always been a force to be reckoned with, but their offspring were beginning to prove to be too much for him. Not to mention that their numbers had multiplied – and their were still two to come of age. Great. More duelling, fist fighting, smart alecs with bad attitudes. Like father like child.

At that thought, Trudge almost had a seizure – they hadn't even reached their worst stage yet!

_I've gotta see if I can retire early, _he decided mentally.

* * *

_Looks like the truth is finally going to be coming out, _Destiny thought, taking deep breaths as Trudge led her up the stairs to where Hideo and Setsuko Izinski waited. _Just keep calm, _she told herself, putting on a completely expressionless face. A useful ability that she had inherited from her father.

The bag with the Black Rose outfit was clutched tightly by her side.

She desperately attempted to soothe her pounding heart as the doors swung open leading her into a room with a window that looked out onto the glass and concrete jungle that was New Domino City. The many bridges that led out two the island that was the Satellite were also visible over the glittering azure sea. Usually Destiny would have stopped to admire the view but there was bigger stuff going on.

She also knew that if she hadn't been raised by the people who had raised her she would have given in a long time ago. She would've thought herself to be _way _out of her depth, but she had just the right personality combination to keep going. Yusei's determination, Crow's stubbornness, and, yes, Jack had taken the careful time to nurture her cockiness and ego. Luckily, though, he hadn't made it too big. _That _had been saved for Jake.

Her unwitting grandparents stood by the window, their backs facing her, staring out at the sea.

_Probably wondering what Mom's doing, _Destiny thought just as Trudge alerted them to their presence.

"Here's Miss Fudo," he announce, nudging her forward. She glared at him before turning to her grandparents. She bowed her had in greeting.

"Mrs. Izinski, Senator."

"You're quite a sneak, you know," Setsuko commented as Destiny raised her head, pushing her dark hair out of her face, "hiding the bag like that."

Destiny remained silent. Any possible reply could cause a fight to break out. A verbal fight, probably, Destiny didn't know how well the ageing senator could punch.

"We know what you took," Hideo added, "you took some of our daughter's things. Things that weren't even particularly valuable. What was the point in that?"

Destiny swallowed before replying. "Not all value is money," he response was illusive, she knew, but it was true. "But what I took _is _valuable. To me, at least. And I apologise for taking them without your permission."

Trudge had gone to attend other matters, telling them he would return soon. Destiny was glad, and so where Hideo and Setsuko, they could now speak freely of the Black Rose.

"But why?" Setsuko asked, a pleading note to her voice, "why take some photos and the cloak and mask of something long gone? What are you using the Black Rose costume for?"

"It…" she paused, uncertain, "holds a special value to me. I want to unlock the secrets of the Black Rose."

"Why?" Hideo demanded, "what can you gain from that? From knowing what she went through?"

"Because," Destiny walked over to the window and pressed a hand against the glass, staring out into the distance, "I want to know who she was. What she was like."

It was clear that her responses where beginning to confuse and unnerve the couple. She wasn't giving straight answers, but she had no idea how to tell them the outright truth. With them standing any chance of believing her, that is.

"And how does the costume help?"

"The mask," Destiny replied, "more than the actual complete outfit. It whispers its secrets to me. Only to me, though, for some reason."

"So you're posing as _our daughter_ so that you can talk to a mask that she used to use to discover all her deepest secrets?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly phrase it like that–"

"I think that you're a raving lunatic," Hideo interrupted.

Destiny couldn't help but give a tiny smile. "That's more Chris's job."

"That's besides the point–" Hideo began but Destiny had already stopped listening as White Magician voice sounded in her mind.

_I think that I may have a solution to how as to prove that you are their granddaughter._

_Really? How?_

_Us. _White Magician replied as her voice faded from Destiny's mind.

_Of course! _The raven-haired duellist exclaimed mentally, _that's it! I'm a psychic duellist. So was Mom. If I show them my abilities then they'll listen to me, plus I won't have to do a whole load of unnecessary explaining._

"–what we want to know is why you even care about what happened to our daughter. She's gone and anything that happened to her is none of your business."

_Let's see how they react to this, _Destiny thought, smirking, as she drew the top card from her deck and glanced at it, _perfect, _before throwing it down onto her duel disk.

"Red Destiny Dragon," she announced as, much to the surprise and shock of Hideo and Setsuko, her ace monster materialised beside her, making good use of the massive, mostly empty, room.

"What," Hideo asked, "is that?"

Red Destiny snorted at the greying man as Destiny gently stroked its ankle. It lowered itself so as it was practically on the floor, Destiny moved forward to scratch its scaly neck. The majestic creature let out a contented growl.

"You're just like a kitten, aren't you?" Destiny murmured as the dragon closed its eyes.

Realising that this dragon was in fact not a simple hologram, Setsuko took a step forward.

"You're a psychic duellist," she whispered.

"At your service," Destiny replied, her attention still mostly focused on her beast. "This is Red Destiny."

"You have full control of your powers," she breathed in disbelief, the raven-haired duellist was indeed at ease with her powers.

"How?" Hideo asked.

"I had a lot of support when I was younger," she explained, noting the regretful faces the couple wore at her reply, "my powers activated when I five. I was so scared at first, but then I was taught that my powers were a blessing and not a curse. That I was special, not a monster. I would've been lost if it weren't for that. I have little doubt that I would have followed the Black Rose's path."

Setsuko nodded, her eyes filled with unshed tears at Destiny's words. "We should've done the same for Akiza, but we didn't. Everything would've been different if we had."

Destiny could not help but be surprised by the change in her grandmother's tone. She sounded so sad and lost. She smiled gently as she fingered Red Destiny's horns.

"Is that why you wanted her things?" Hideo asked, his voice sounding as pained as his wife's, "so that you can see the difference between her and you?"

"Only partially," Destiny replied, "scoot now," she whispered to the dragon, which vaporised back to her deck on her command.

"How exactly," Setsuko asked hesitantly, "are you a psychic duellist?"

This was the question Destiny had been waiting for, and she took a deep breath before answering.

"There are… many different ways that someone can be a psychic duellist," she paused, her heart racing, "you can't just become one. You're born with the ability. Sometimes it's just random, sometimes you're bestowed with it for a special reason – Akiza's was a Signer, that's why she was chosen – and sometimes, sometimes it's a hereditary trait. Genetics. My powers happen to be hereditary."

"But," Setsuko began, "I didn't think Yusei was…"

"He's not," Destiny interrupted. She couldn't stare the two of them right in the eye, so she settled for Setsuko. "I didn't get from my dad. I got it from my _mom."_

She watched carefully as Hideo and Setsuko faces paled and their jaws dropped.

_Well, _she thought, _that certainly did the trick._

* * *

**EchoGirl: And the truth is finally out! What did you think? Boy, I'm hungry...**

**Goldfish: Then it something!**

**EchoGirl: I will. Maybe you!**

**Goldfish: No you wouldn't.**

**EchoGirl: Try me.**

**Goldfish: You won't.**


	17. Aftermath

**EchoGirl: Hiyas. Sorry about any typos in the last chapter - I have a habit of making them when I'm in a hurry.**

**Goldfish: She does.**

**EchoGirl: _Anyway,_ this chapter's not particularly long but I hope you like it.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and never will.**

**EchoGirl: It's heart breaking.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 16**

Silence reigned supreme. Destiny twiddled her thumbs nervously as Hideo and Setsuko stared at her unblinkingly, their jaws hanging open.

_Well, _Destiny concluded mentally, _this is awkward. _The couple continued to stare. _I sure hope that neither of them have a heart attack or something._

"So…" After a few minutes Destiny felt so uncomfortable that she just had to break the silence, even if what came out of her mouth was just ridiculous babbling. "Does this mean I should stay, or should I scram in case you, like, kill me?"

"You're Akiza's daughter…" Setsuko croaked, finally finding her voice. Destiny scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Uh, yeah, I am."

"So you're the reason she left…"

_Dude, is that all you can think about? _

"Look," Destiny said angrily, "maybe I am. Maybe I'm the reason that your daughter left, but what do you want me to do about it? I can't help being born. It's not my fault."

"You're… our granddaughter…"

_They're in shock, _Destiny realised.

She had no idea how to deal with people that were in shock. She could duel, she could hit, she could talk to Duel Monster spirits, hell, she could even fix a D-Wheel engine (well, _most _of one) and knew the square root of pi, but she knew absolutely nothing about how to deal with people in shock. Then again, she had never thought that she would need it and now she had two _shocked-to-the-core _almost-OAPs to deal with.

Running through her skills again, Destiny decided to use Skill No. 2 and promptly slapped her grandmother across the face. Gently, of course.

"What on _earth_?" Setsuko exclaimed, coming out of her daze.

_Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best idea._

"Destiny! Did you just… _hit _me?"

"Yeah, sorry about that but you were acting really weird. And, technically, I didn't hit you, I slapped you."

This girl has absolutely no first aid skill, Setsuko thought rubbing her cheek before she suddenly remembered what the dark-haired girl had said. At once, the woman's hands shot forward and grabbed Destiny's face, tilting it upward to face her.

She could see it now. The familiarity she had noticed when she first laid eyes on Destiny Fudo. She was mostly Yusei – the same raven hair, the soul-seeing blue eyes, she sharp, angular features – but Akiza was in there too – the alabaster skin, the violet highlights, she distinctive cat-shaped eyes. Her granddaughter.

She turned the girl's face slowly to the side, pushing the hair away from her temple and tracing her jaw line.

"Uh, is there something I can help you with?" Destiny asked awkwardly, unsure of the current situation that – if Setsuko weren't her grandmother – was something she was sure could pass for harassment.

It was at that moment that Hideo finally came out of his trace. Fortunately without his granddaughter's assistance. He too then remembered the words that had been exchanged only a few minutes earlier. The words echoed through his mind.

_She got her psychic powers from her mother. Akiza had psychic powers. Akiza is her mother._

That thought brought stars to his vision and he had to grab a pillar to keep himself from falling.

_I have an almost fourteen-year-old granddaughter that I've only just met._

The truth was out now, after fourteen years of pain and endurance it was finally out: the real reason that Akiza had left. The confusing words of the letter at last made sense in his head. A child.

He had heard of Destiny Fudo before. She wasn't unheard of. The only daughter of the turbo duelling champion; the most anticipated duellist for the future, only thirteen years old and already rivalling the best (they had personally trained her after all). He'd seen her too: photos of her attending big tournament opening parties and such, but he'd never made the connection.

And now, as he watched his wife examine the girl's face, he felt so stupid that he could have missed it. Once Setsuko was done, he seized Destiny's shoulders and bent down to her level, taking his own chance to see her properly.

"How's it possible?" he asked, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Uh, probably the way that most children's lives become possible," Destiny replied, looking increasingly uncomfortable and blushing at her own answer.

This reply didn't really make Hideo feel any better. In fact, if anything, it did the complete opposite and sent the senator's thoughts spiralling towards a certain black spiky haired duellist. A duellist that, at the moment, was _not _Hideo's favourite person in the world.

"Um, Senator?" Destiny asked, her shoulders still caught in his vice-like grip. "You can let go now."

The man obliged and stood up next to his wife.

"Destiny," he said slowly, "I appreciate you telling us this, but before anything…"

Destiny winced, 'buts' were never good.

Setsuko put a hand on her husband's chest and nodded. She evidently knew what he was talking about and agreed.

"…we want to speak to your father."

All of Destiny's thoughts came to a standstill, the unexpected _obviousness _of the statement taking her by surprise. Of course they would want to talk to Yusei (well, more likely yell at than talk). Perhaps she had done the wrong thing by telling them; involving her father had not been one of her plans. Not yet, at least.

It was apparent, however, that she had no choice. It wasn't like she could say 'no' after all.

"Are you going to be giving my dad a sex talk?" she asked cautiously.

Yusei really wasn't very good at handling that subject, and in the end it had been Jack who had given her the actual 'talk'. He had been very blunt and hadn't missed out a single detail.

She was ten and had been scarred for life.

Her question had obviously taken the Izinskis aback, and their eyes had widened in shock before they had scolded her for her blunt shamelessness. They had then told her that they would personally drive her home and that they could speak with Yusei once they arrived.

As Destiny followed them down the stairs, she could only think that her question had not been properly answered. These rich, high folk evidently weren't ones to mention that sort of thing.

_Yup, there's definitely going to be a sex talk._

She couldn't help but burst out laughing at the thought.

* * *

Yusei had been in the middle of putting on his helmet when a sleek black car parked a few feet in front of him and Destiny slipped out of the back seat. Removing his helmet and placing it on the seat of his D-Wheel, he strode forward as Destiny rushed towards him.

She greeted him by throwing her arms around his waist. After a moment, he returned the hug.

"Hey, Dad," she said quietly as they released each other.

"Destiny, what happened?" he asked, though he had a pretty good idea, "Vanessa said that you were at Security HQ, I was just coming–"

He broke off as Hideo and Setsuko Izinski got out of the driver and passenger seats and began to walk towards them, their cold glares focused on him.

" –for you," he finished as the older couple stopped in front of them. It wasn't hard to see the ice-cold anger in their eyes.

Setsuko linked her hand with that of her husband and, as if on cue, Destiny entwined her fingers with Yusei's.

She stared up at him with apologetic eyes and he glanced down at her – their identical sapphire gazing locking.

_I'm sorry, _she mouthed. He nodded in understanding. This wasn't her fault. He knew he'd have to do this one day.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Mr. Fudo," Hideo was the first to speak.

_Oh, crap, _Yusei thought, closing his eyes. He knew what was coming.

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, any good? Destiny really needs to work on her health skills...**

**Goldfish: Understatement.**

**EchoGirl: For once we are in complete agreement.**

**Goldfish: I've been incredibly nice today, so review or ELSE!**

**EchoGirl: And we really need to work on your people skills. Lesson No. 1: Threatening people is bad.**

**Goldfish: I do not care.**


	18. Turbo Duelling, Fist Fighting Misfit

**EchoGirl: So, this is chapter 17. I hope you like it. The goldfish is once again plotting to take over the world so I'll just do this disclaimer by myself. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and, unfortunately, never will.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 17**

Quietly, Destiny followed her father and grandparents inside. Upon entry into the living she carefully perched herself a sofa arm and drew one leg up to her chest, her chin resting on her knee. She glanced up at her father as he approached, bending down to whisper in her ear.

"Destiny," he said, "you should probably go upstairs." He glanced at Hideo and Setsuko, who were now seated on the adjacent sofa. "I feel a feeling this might get a little messy."

_No kidding, _she thought, seeing her grandfather's pointed glare.

"Dad," she whispered back, "I can handle whatever they say just fine. Do you remember who it was that gave me the 'talk'? If I could stand _that, _I'll be just fine with this."

Yusei's eyes darkened and he muttered something along the lines of 'worst mistake _ever_' before replying to his daughter.

"If you're insistent you can eavesdrop from the other side of the door. I just don't think that Hideo and Setsuko want you to be here for this," he whispered, casting a glance at the older couple.

"I suppose," Destiny muttered, remembering their reaction to her earlier question back at Security HQ. With a sigh, she slid off the sofa.

"You can come back in once the ranting is over," Yusei told her quietly before she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Almost immediately, she pressed her ear against but they were talking very quietly and she couldn't make out most of the words.

This was just the prelude, she thought, the calm before the storm.

Her stomach let out a loud rumble and it was then that she remembered that she hadn't eaten anything since lunch in the Duel Academy cafeteria, and even then she hadn't eaten much, not with seeing herself on the news headlines _and _on the magazine gossip pages. The news she could live with, but not the gossip pages: she was now the object of many teenage fangirls' impossible fury.

Damn Chris and Mark Kessler.

_Maybe I should go grab some pizza or something, _she thought as she wandered into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge door. No pizza.

"Looks like it's toast after all," she murmured, pulling out the bread and tossing two slices into the toaster behind her.

_Score, _she thought as the bread landed perfectly into the slots and she pushed on the lever. _Now I just need to improve my card throwing technique. It is so cool when pieces of paper can be used as lethal weapons._

It was as Destiny was buttering the toast that she began to hear raised voices. Seizing the plate, she dropped the knife into the sink and meandered back to the living room door, tilting one head towards it as she proceeded to munch on her toast, trying to get the gist of what was going on.

Hideo seemed to be yelling a long monologue about Yusei not having said anything about her existence, with Setsuko occasionally adding in a comment of her own. Peeking through the keyhole, Destiny noticed that her father's face looked akin to that of a tomato.

_Damn, _she thought, _I missed him getting the 'talk'._

After about five minutes of this, Yusei replied that he had felt that Akiza should have been the one to tell them, and that if she hadn't told them before she had left then he could only assume that perhaps she didn't want them to know.

_Fair enough, _Destiny thought, taking another bite of toast, _I suppose it makes sense._

Unfortunately with the Izinskis though, this response didn't bode well and resulted in Hideo blowing up again.

"I don't even know how I ever liked or felt gratitude towards you!" he concluded loudly at the end of another monologue.

"Because I woke your daughter up from a coma?" Yusei suggested.

"And look what happened from it!"

"You mean that you wish Akiza was still in a coma?"

"No, of course not! I never wish for her to remain in a coma! She's my daughter, why would I? And why exactly did _you _come to wake her up?"

Destiny couldn't help but roll her eyes. She had heard this story before, and wondered if, in the adrenaline of the moment, Hideo had forgotten what had actually happened.

_You're just digging yourself a hole, Gramps._

"Because you begged me to, remember?" her father reminded him.

There was a moment of silence, and Destiny could practically feel the embarrassment radiating off of Hideo.

_Better go save the day, _Destiny thought as she pushed open the door and strode casually in, as if she hadn't heard a thing.

"Hey," she greeted, plonking down on the sofa next to Yusei and taking another bite of toast, "what's up?"

The three adults turned to her gave a small smile, even Hideo who was still beet red. She let out a small giggle at the sight.

"Is something amusing you?" the man in question asked.

Destiny shook her head. "The colour of your face just makes you look like you could be related to a tomato."

If anything, this just made Hideo face go even redder.

"Oh, Dad," she turned to Yusei, "you know how we're all going to WRGP opening party, thing?"

Yusei nodded. "Yes?"

"Nessie and I need to go dress shopping, _joy, _because we have absolutely zilch to wear. I was thinking maybe this Saturday, 'cause, y'know, the opening night's next Wednesday, and I was wondering if you could drop me off in town?"

It was evident that her grandparents had no idea what she was talking about. They weren't duellists, but still knew what the WRGP was, and knew what and knew what shopping was, but that was about the gist of it. Hideo, personally, had no idea what the Loch Ness Monster had to do with dress shopping while Setsuko was in disbelief that her granddaughter owned no formal clothes or even casual dresses. Judging by what the girl was wearing, it was apparent that she had mostly been raised by males.

"Can't you just walk?" Yusei asked.

"Not really," Destiny replied, "since you need to travel on the duel roads to get to all the best shops for this kind of thing. And if you don't want to, you could let me drive. You even said I was at expert level for driving _and duelling _on a D-Wheel. I don't even need auto-pilot."

Any past thoughts were wiped from Hideo and Setsuko's mind as they realised that their _thirteen-year-old granddaughter was turbo duelling. _Akiza had been seventeen when she'd started riding a D-Wheel, and even then they hadn't liked it. And he knew it took years to completely master a D-Wheel, and if she was at expert level that meant she must have started when she was at least nine or ten.

"Eight, actually," Destiny said, realising where their thoughts were headed.

"You started turbo duelling when you were eight!" Setsuko exclaimed, horrified, "but that's dangerous! And illegal!"

Destiny shrugged, "I've only crashed twice. Once when I was nine and again when I was eleven. I was fine. I only broke my arm and a few ribs."

_Okay, _Destiny thought, watching as her grandparents' faces went from shocked to horrified and angry, _maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to say._

"You let her turbo duel when you knew that she would get hurt!" Hideo exclaimed at Yusei, obviously remembering the time that Akiza had been hurt during the WRGP.

"It's always a risk," Yusei replied, wrapping his arm around Destiny's shoulders and drawing her closer to him. "But it's what she wants to do."

"I love it," Destiny agreed, resting her head on her father's shoulder, "I knew that there was a possibility that I might get hurt but I didn't care, and I still don't." she looked up at Yusei, her eyes filled with admiration, "it's a part of me."

"It's still dangerous," Setsuko pointed, "and since you're under sixteen and don't have a license, it's against the law."

"Ach, I only do it in private," then she caught the eye-roll her father gave her and added sheepishly, "not including the seven times I got arrested."

_And that wasn't the smartest thing to say either, evidently._

"ARRESTED!" Hideo and Setsuko exclaimed in unison, "you're thirteen years old and you've been _arrested _**SEVEN TIMES**?"

"Well, eight if you include the house breaking incident. And I wasn't technically being _arrested, _just taken into temporary police custody."

This didn't help matters at all, and the Izinskis only took note of one thing Destiny had said.

"**EIGHT TIMES?"**

"The rest of the gang was arrested too!" Destiny defended.

"Is this your form of parenting, Fudo?" Hideo demanded.

Yusei looked at him calmly.

"I was raised in the old Satellite," he replied, "things were different there and there were things that we needed to know just to survive. We had no schools, no teachers, we had to teach ourselves things and we were always at risk from something. Being able to duel – even though it later became illegal – being able to escape dangerous situations and being able to fight hand-on-hand combat were simple necessities. Jack, Crow, Kalin and I took it upon ourselves to teach our children such things. If we still lived in the Satellite it would be things they would have to know. It was instinct. And getting arrested in Satellite was probably the least uncommon occurrence."

Hideo nodded at Yusei's explanation, but still looked angry. Setsuko, however, was staring at Destiny. Something Yusei had said had caught her attention.

"You can fight?"

Destiny nodded proudly, thinking back on an old memory of hers, "Sure can."

*** _**Flashback **_***

_It was evening in New Domino City as she slunk through the town's lower levels, her slender frame silhouetted by the setting sun. Most people would wonder what a twelve-year-old girl was doing in such an area at 7:30pm._

_Truth be told, she was looking for someone. A certain eighteen-year-old who went by the name Michael Grouse, an aspiring duellist, yet, unfortunately, not a particularly good one. He was also a bully._

_Destiny knew him from Duel Academy. He was in his final year while she was in her second, and, at the moment, she thoroughly detested the young man._

_He was a bad duellist, anyone could see that, with little faith in his deck. So, to make up for his weak duelling skills, he had very powerful and useful monsters. It wasn't hard to see where he got them from – she had seen pupils kneeling on the ground, upset, saying that they had duelled Grouse and he'd cheated, then forced them to surrender their best cards. Either that or some just said that their best cards had gone missing._

_That's all Grouse was – a bully and a thief. And for weeks now, she, Jake, Chris and Mark _**(AN: Vanessa doesn't go to the Academy yet) **_had been planning what to do about it. _

_That was before Grouse crossed the line. Before his eyes had turned to Destiny's deck. Before Red Destiny Dragon had mysteriously disappeared._

_Screw the plans. Grouse was going down._

_No one touched Red Destiny without her permission._

_She knew that Grouse was in a gang of some sort, and that he would often hang about the alleys around this time before the others arrived. She noticed a silhouette ahead of her, a man leaning against a wall admiring a deck of cards._

Perfect, _she thought. The figure's slouched, lanky form was unmistakable._

"_Grouse!" she called, walking forward. The figure swung around in surprise, revealing a pocked face and spiky brown hair, green eyes widened when they saw her. "You have a lot to answer for," she told him, stepping out of the shadows._

"_Fudo?" he asked, squinting his eyes in the harsh light of sunset._

"_You know who I am," her voice was soaked sarcasm, "congrats. I applaud you."_

"_What do you want?" he asked, stretching up to his full height – which was about a foot and a half taller than her – and staring down at her._

_She met his gaze unflinchingly, sapphire eyes glittering in anger and defiance. "You have something of mine, and I want it back. In fact, you have something of everyone's, and I'm going to return them."_

"_Oh?" he asked, pulling a card out of his back trouser pocket and showing it to her, "you mean this?"_

_It was Red Destiny._

"_Yes. Now give it back."_

"_Hm, now let me think," Grouse stroked his chin in mock consideration, "no. I like this card. It's powerful, and has good effects."_

It doesn't even match your deck type, idiot, _Destiny thought, rolling her eyes, _it's only compatible with mine.

"_But _maybe,_" he said after moment, "if you duel me and win I'll give it back, but if you lose I get your _entire deck_. What do you say? Deal? I'd love to see your face when your signature monster is used against you in battle."_

_Destiny shook her head. "No deal. You don't even deserve to touch Red Destiny, let alone use it in battle. The same goes for all the other cards you've stolen. I won't lower myself to duelling with you." She got into a fighting stance, "you're in a gang, right?"_

_Grouse nodded, confused about were this was going but his eyes widened to the size of footballs when he noticed her stance. No doubt he was surprised at being challenged to a fight of fists instead of a fight of cards by a girl six years his junior. But mostly by the fact that it was a girl._

Male chauvinistic pig.

Need any help, mistress? _White Magician's musical voice sounded in her mind._

No. He's mind.

_If it was possible, Grouse's eyes got wider as Destiny cracked her knuckles. She couldn't help but toy with him._

"_Then let's fight like men."_

_This statement stopped Grouse in his tracks. "But you're not a man," he stated the obvious._

_Destiny used this opening to the best of her advantaged and performed one of the dirtier tricks that she hardly ever fell back on, but, as she would tell the rest of the gang later, 'he deserved it' and promptly ran forward and gave the thief a hard flying kick in the groin._

_With a howl of pain, Grouse fell to his knees._

"_You little–" he began but was silenced as she dealt him a hard knockout blow to the temple. He fell motionless to the ground and she proceeded to grab his deck and flicked through it. All the cards present had been stolen. She removed Red Destiny and put it in her own deck before slipping the others into her pocket. They would be back with their owners tomorrow._

_She smiled as she heard the monsters whispering thanks into her mind._

Always a pleasure, _she responded. _Mission complete.

*** _**End Flashback **__***_

Not one of her more impressive fights, that was true, Grouse wasn't much of an opponent but it was definitely one of her favourites. Grouse had kept his distance after that. No doubt humiliated at having been beaten in hand-on-hand combat with a twelve-year-old.

"Destiny?" Setsuko asked as she came out her daze, her voice was filled with concern, "are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Destiny responded, shifting around to get into a more comfortable position, snuggled against her father. "What was you said?"

"I asked if you were proud of these… things you'd been taught. Fighting and getting arrested on a weekly basis?"

Destiny nodded, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Hell, yeah."

Hideo shook his head.

"Parenting skills definitely need work."

One horrified thought was running through the couple's mind. This was not the future they'd have in mind. They'd always dreamed that they'd have a beautiful, compassionate, polite, well-mannered, _well-dressed, _completely ordinary grandchild. Instead they had a rebellious, smart-alec, law-breaking misfit who didn't even _own _a formal outfit. Sure the looks and compassion were there, but they were still taken by surprise, not to mention that she possessed the dreaded psychic abilities and seemed to get into more than a few fist fights.

In only a few days, the world had turned itself upside down.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well, any good? You tell me.**

**Goldfish: I'm back!**

**EchoGirl: You have _got _to be kidding me, right?**

**Goldfish: Nope. And this time the world _will_ fall under my command!**

**EchoGirl: Lunatic.**

**Goldfish: What was that?**


	19. Like Mother, Like Daughter

**EchoGirl: Well, chapter 18 is up and I'm really hoping that you like this one - I had a lot of fun writing it. Since I'd been focusing on the relationship of Destiny, Yusei and the grandparents in the past few chapters, I felt compelled to write some more on Akiza and her likeness to Destiny in the form of the one thing they hate most...**

**Goldfish: You're giving everything away!**

**EchoGirl: Oh, yeah. Ahem. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 18**

To say that Akiza was annoyed was an understatement. She stood on the balcony of her shared apartment, leaning on the rails, newspaper in hand. The so-called Witch of Dark Destiny was on the cover. _Again._

It had to be the third time this week. Who exactly was this impostor? Who would throw their life away just to create misery? For others and for herself?

And Akiza knew exactly just how much misery hiding behind a mask could cause.

But one question nagged at her. Who exactly _was_ she? This Witch of Dark Destiny? It was quite obvious that she was indeed a psychic duellist – the damage that she'd caused to the streets of New Domino was sufficient evidence of that. The Arcadia Movement, possibly?

The violet haired woman shook her head. No, that was impossible. The Arcadia Movement was gone, and Sayer with it. She had to be a free-lancer.

But if she was a free-lancer, then why?

Was she just a scared, lost little girl; as Akiza herself had been? A deranged psychopath, as she had later become? Or was there a completely different reason behind the stranger's actions?

Who was she? And, more importantly, why was she wearing _exactly _what she had worn during her time as the Black Rose? She was no Black Rose, that was for sure. Her dragon proved that.

Glancing at the front page picture once again, Akiza couldn't help but admire the creature that hovered protectively behind the young woman – it held a dark, enchanting beauty with it's head raised proudly, red eyes glowing in the gloomy background.

"Dark Destiny Dragon," she murmured, reading the description underneath. She couldn't help but feel that, like its mistress, the dragon too was hiding something. Like it too was wearing a mask. It was indeed beautiful, but also dark and menacing, she wondered if, beneath its mask, it was not. Perhaps it was truly a creature of light, with a breathtaking beauty.

Yes, she decided, this dragon was hiding something – along with its mistress – hiding behind a mask, and without that mask, it would be a creature of true majesty.

She could tell. Her years as the Black Rose had honed her perception of such things.

This woman – child – in the picture was not all that she appeared to be.

"Aki!" I voice interrupted her musing, she turned to she Jenna making her way towards the balcony, she spotted the paper in her friend's hand, "you're not thinking about that Dark Destiny person again, are you?"

"I'm intrigued by her," Akiza replied, staring at the picture of the girl in her clothes, her cat-like brown eyes burning holes into the paper (metaphorically, of course), "I want to know who she is."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "She's probably just some wannabe teenager playing dress-up, now come on! Nadia and Damien are here!"

Akiza frowned. "Why are they here?"

"Because I invited them round," Jenna replied with another eye-roll, "besides you need to get out. The only thing you've been doing recently is taking walks on the beach. Let's go into town, shop, have some fun."

"Jenna," Akiza replied boredly, "you know fair well that going into town and shopping is not my idea of fun."

"But then again neither is anything but staring at the sky, staring at your cards and now staring at the newspaper too. Going into town and shopping is everyone's idea of fun, _except _yours. Come on!"

She grabbed Akiza's arm and dragged her from the balcony into the living room.

_How can shopping be anyone's idea of fun?_

* * *

**_New Domino City, Shopping District_**

"How can shopping be anyone's idea of fun?" Destiny asked aloud as she stared up at the massive multi-storey department stores. "Crashing a D-Wheel is _nothing _compared to this," she continued as she and Vanessa elbowed their way through the dense mob, "you can quite easily be fatally injured by being trampled by all these–" she broke off, squeezing past a rather hefty woman, "–people!"

She gasped as she and the younger redhead broke free of the crowd.

"Air," Vanessa sighed, leaning against the entrance to a rather fancy looking boutique, she glanced at the only other female member of the gang. "Are you sure this was a good idea? We're gonna get mobbed here."

"What else can we do?" Destiny replied, "we've got three days 'til the WRGP opening night and if we don't have anything to wear, we're screwed. Plus, I might have to buy some extra stuff: my grandmother almost had a seizure when she found out that I didn't own a dress."

Vanessa's eyes widened, "overactive much?"

The raven-haired duellist shrugged, "she's prissy like that."

"So, are we gonna be seeing you walking around in elegant skirts and high-heels from now, just so you can make an impression on your grandmother, _Miss Fudo_?" Vanessa teased, emphasising the use of the title; but inside she was secretly worried that her friend would disappear – though she knew that Destiny, with these new additions to her family, would turn into a rich snob like Chania, she didn't want the kind-hearted duellist to change. She was just right the way she was, and Vanessa wouldn't have it any other way.

"Nah," Destiny slinging an arm around the younger girl's shoulders, "there's about as much a chance of that as there is me turning into a guinea pig. I'll break the heels and roll about in the mud first," she smiled warmly at Vanessa at this point, answering her unspoken question. "Whether my grandparents like it or not – I'm the future queen of riding duels, and I'm not changing for the world."

Vanessa couldn't help but grin at her and burst out laughing. "Come on," she ushered Destiny into the boutique, "let's go."

"Let the torture begin," Destiny said as she stared around the massive ground floor of the store. Luckily for them, they had come to the right place and didn't require to run round all of New Domino on a wild goose chase for a store that sold what they were looking for.

She wasn't scare of jealous blonde bitches, of rough-tough bullies, or even of deadly duel monsters – she could face any challenge head on – but boy as hell was Destiny afraid as she stared as rows and rows of poofy prom dresses, snowy wedding gowns, and especially of the tarty one-pieces just two rows away.

_This will be my death, _she thought in horror, glancing at Vanessa, who had the same expression plastered on her face; _at least I won't be the only one._

"If any god who has ever existed possesses any mercy, please kill me now," the redhead whispered.

"Evidently not," Destiny muttered grimly as a group of girls from Duel Academy crossed into their line of sight – Chania Deltoure at the head.

Vanessa glanced at her friend, following her line of sight. She groaned in irritation: this day could _not _get any worse.

To both Destiny and Vanessa's horror, it appeared that it could as the tall blonde caught sight of them and made her way forward, a scowl pasted to her forehead.

"Hogan," she greeted coldly, "Fudo," even colder. "I wasn't aware that you came here. _Girls' clothes_ aren't really you're forte, after all. I'm surprised they even _let _you in."

She and her followers laughed, as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Destiny's face remained emotionless.

"We didn't come here for insults, Chania. Why, I was hoping that we could even get a break from you – until something that actually implies intelligence comes out of your mouth," she took hold of Vanessa's sleep, "we'll be seeing you."

Vanessa sniggered slightly as she noticed Chania's face flush with anger as the duo walked off.

"Hold it, slut," she yelled after them.

Destiny stopped in her tracks and twisted her head to see Chania's triumphant expression. She didn't bother to acknowledge her with turning to face her. The tall, perfect blonde didn't deserve even that.

Vanessa stopped with her and also turned her head to see the aggravating owner of the voice.

"Yep," Chania gloated at the frozen Destiny, "I went there. Everyone knows about your pointless little infatuation."

_Wow, _Vanessa thought sarcastically, _Chania used a big word. _Her mind snapped to attention, _she must be talking about the pictures of her and Jake on the internet. Damn Chris and Mark!_

It was lucky, at least, that the pictures had been taken off.

Destiny remained calm and emotionless; the only change in her facial expression being the narrowing of her eyes. The all-seeing sapphire orbs burnt holes into Chania's skull. That was enough for Vanessa.

_She is in _trouble.

"At least Jake actually _likes _me, Chania, and I don't have to stalk him home from school as the only way to get within a twenty metre radius without him practically _running away _from you–"

_That was definitely metaphoric, _Vanessa concluded, _Jake wouldn't _run_ away from anyone, even Chania – it would critically wound his pride – even if he really, really wanted to._

"–but, then again, you probably already know that, or else you wouldn't be stalking him. Oh, and he also told me that he thinks you're a trashy slut and that he'd like to run you over in one of those rusty, old Sector Security cars that they used to use in the old Satellite – a D-Wheel is far too good for you. See you around, but preferably not anytime soon, _stalker._"

With that Destiny walked off with Vanessa jogging to catch up, leaving Chania bright red and her friends sniggering over the fact that she had stalked the Jake Atlas that they all so adored home from the Academy.

"Nice handling," Vanessa commented once they were out of earshot and headed down one of the aisles. "You always were the one with the negotiating skills."

"It was hardly negotiating, Ness," Destiny replied as she began to flick through a few of the dresses. "Come on, let's get this over with."

"The sooner the better," Vanessa agreed, joining her, "I'm suffocating in here."

"Tell me about it," Destiny replied, picking a black evening dress out from the pile and holding it up against herself in the mirror. "This'll do," she muttered, fingering the silky material.

On cue, Vanessa found a dark green velvet dress and joined Destiny at the mirror.

"Yup, that just about does it."

"Great. Then let's try these on, buy 'em and get out of here."

"That's the best suggestion I've heard all day."

That comment was immediately issued invalid as soon as the two aspiring duellists approached the overflowing fitting rooms. _Worst suggestion ever._

_Whatever my mother is doing, _Destiny thought, _it certainly can't be as bad as this._

* * *

**_Back in Danson City, Shopping District_**

Akiza sighed as she stood outside the stuffy fitting rooms, already crammed to the brim with people of all sorts, waiting for the others. Even Damien was trying a suit on.

_I have so many better things to do with my time._

"So," Jenna asked, stepping out of the changing cubicle dressed in a purple halter neck top and denim mini skirt.

"And me?" Nadia asked, pulling back the curtain to reveal herself wearing an elegant, knee-length, blue and white dress. Just as Damien appeared wearing a different set of jeans and a polo neck.

Akiza merely stared irritably at them.

"You look fine. Can we go now? I have more important stuff to do than just hang around here all day."

"No way, Aki," Jenna told her, "we are going to stop at every single relevant clothing store in town until we have everything we might need."

"You're kidding me, right?"

Jenna and Nadia both shook their heads, while Damien merely looked stuck in the middle of the three woman.

Akiza closed her eyes in an attempt at self-control; it would have very bad consequences if she unleashed her psychic powers in the middle of a twenty-storey department store after all.

_Whatever my daughter is doing right now, _she thought, her mind wandering back to the picture she had seen on Damien's phone of the violet-streaked raven-haired girl (she had blocked the image of the Atlas boy that had also been in the picture permanently from her mind, thinking about the two of them together did the exact opposite of wonders for her psychological health), _it certainly can't be as bad as this._

* * *

**EchoGirl: Any good? I thought it would be interesting to look into the connections between them in a little more depth and shopping seemed to fit the category perfectly. I also wanted to put some of Aki's thoughts about the Witch of Dark Destiny in to it, so... tell me what you think.**

**Goldfish: Do it. Otherwise she'll get upset and I'll never be able to complete my plans.**

**EchoGirl: My readers will never support your empire, Goldfish! At least, I hope not.**

**Goldfish: Mwahahahahahahahahahaha! I shall rule the world.**

**EchoGirl: Get a life.**

**Goldfish: Hey!**


	20. Just a Dream

**EchoGirl: Hey, me again, anyway, this is going to be my last chapter for the next few days since I'm going on a school history trip to Germany which should be fun - and I hope Goldfish doesn't attempt to conquer the world in that time - but I should be back soon. Anyway, for this chapter I decided to focus some more on the drama in the story and look a bit more in depth at Destiny and Akiza. Enjoy!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 19**

It was late, almost midnight, as Destiny sat cross-legged on her bed; there wasn't a sound except the quiet whistling breeze just beyond the window. Besides that, the night was completely still.

The pale, eerie glow of the pearly moon streamed in through the open curtains, illuminating an object in the girl's hand. A mask: smooth and cracked, as if it had been pieced back together from ruins; white and phantom-like, with only two red streaks passing over the eye indentations and a pale lilac circle on the forehead to distinguish it. A truly haunting piece of attire – it was the key, the secret, to unearthing a world of secrets, of memories of pain and misery. A key to the past.

The mask of the Black Rose. Her mother's mask.

Carefully, Destiny traced the cracks and lines that marred its ghastly perfection. It brought her no peace, no comfort, just those awful voices whispering in her head, all jumbled together, making absolutely no sense.

Touching brought her voices, wearing brought her images, duelling brought her visions and memories; yet the young, dark-haired duellist could not help but wonder, what would dreams bring her?

Would they bring her nightmares; visions of darkness and horror? Or would they connect her to the one woman that she longed for most?

Her day had been stressful to say the least. Shopping was not her forte. At least she now _had _a dress; her eyes flickered to the silky black material flung over the back of a chair. She had been longing for a good night's rest, she wished for nothing more. But once the idea that had formed in her mind grew more dominant, her ability to sleep vanished.

So here she was, contemplating whether or not to go ahead with it. There was always the possibility that nothing may happen, but then again, something may.

_All right, _she concluded, _whatever happens it can't be that bad. Let's go for it._

"You with me, Red Destiny?" she asked, reaching for her favourite card, which lay beside her on the bed.

A low growl sounded within her mind.

"I'll take that as yes," she gave a small smile before slowly slipping on the mask and adjusting it to her face and laying her head down on the pillow, letting sleep take her, Red Destiny still grasped tightly in her hand.

_

* * *

_

Akiza was shocked. She didn't know where she was or why. One moment she was having a perfectly nice dream and now she was standing in the middle of well… nothingness.

If limbo was ever to have an appearance, this is what the magenta-haired woman would have imagined.

She was standing on anything, nothing except air, yet she was still upright and perfectly mobile. She glanced around, confused, everything was just shadows. Spirals of dark, moving shadows.

"Where am I?" she whispered, it was then that she heard an oh-so-familiar roar. She spun around to see her beloved partner, floating behind her in all of its dark, petalled glory.

"Black Rose?" she whispered, reaching out with one arm as her dragon lowered its head. They touched for a moment.

It was then that Akiza noticed her attire. On her arm was not her familiar elbow-length fingerless gloves, but instead an old, ratty purple sleeve – her cloak – and on her face she felt a weight that she had not felt in years.

She reached up with her hands to touch her face, but instead of encountering flesh her fingers brushed against something hard, finely carved and solid.

_My mask, _she realised, both hands now rapidly exploring her face, moving upwards to feel the rough material of the cloak's hood.

_The Black Rose, _her mind recoiled in shock, _I'm the Black Rose!_

She sprung to attention at the sound of another roar – different from that of Black Rose's – she felt her dragon move into attack position beside her.

Squinting her eyes, she made out two figures in the shadows. One winged, tall and serpent-like, a draconic being and now doubt the owner of the fierce roar, the other a small and slight. A person.

"Who are you?" Akiza yelled at the two beings, Black Rose roared and beat its wings to reinforce her question. "Show yourself!"

After a moment of hesitance, the two creatures, dragon and human, moved forward into her line of vision. She stumbled backwards in shock as she saw their appearance. Another witch. Looked like her, dressed like her and the dragon was unmistakable.

The Witch of Dark Destiny.

* * *

Destiny hadn't known where sleeping while wearing the mask would take her, but this shadowy limbo had definitely not been within her expectations. She glanced down to see that she was dressed in her mother's old Black Rose clothes.

_What on earth? _She thought just as a roar sounded beside her. It was Red Destiny, under the guise of Dark Destiny, much as she was as the Witch of Dark Destiny.

"Hey," she greeted it, "took you long enough."

As she stretched out her hand to welcome her beast proper beast properly, a female a voice sounded from the shadows just ahead.

"Who are you?" it screamed, a dragon's roar joined the voice, "show yourself!"

She shared a glance with her dragon before they both moved forward. They kept approaching until they were standing not twenty feet from the woman and beast that had called out to him. She looked up, preparing to speak, but on sight the girl gasped and raised a hand to her hidden mouth.

Before her stood an older version of herself, albeit the hair was different – violet instead of black streaked with violet. She turned her gaze to the dragon that stood beside its mistress and almost fell over in shock.

Black Rose Dragon.

Her gaze returned to the woman. Same outfit, same mask, violet hair, and the final Signer dragon.

Was it possible?

The woman's arm began to glow a bright red. A claw mark illuminated from beneath the heavy cloak.

_The back claw mark of the Crimson Dragon, _Destiny realised.

This was it. This was her.

"Black Rose?" she whispered hoarsely.

Mother?

"I know you," the woman gasped, clutching her glowing right arm, "you're the Witch of Dark Destiny. Tell me where we are. Where have you taken us?"

She was referring to herself and her dragon.

Destiny had to struggle to keep her knees from giving way. Her mind screamed for her mother, but she forced herself to keep focus. Akiza evidently didn't know who she was.

She flinched, even despite the fact that both were decked out in completely concealing clothing, she couldn't help but feel saddened at the fact that her mother didn't recognise her.

Considering her mother's question, she glanced around the shadows that surrounded them and, thinking back on what she had done just before falling asleep, came to a conclusion.

"This is the realm of the mask of the Black Rose," she announced. "It must be."

The original Black Rose inhaled sharply and stood up straighter, glancing around, one hand on her dragon's neck.

"This is last place I wanted to return to," her voice was filled with distress, "why have you brought me here? This place brings nothing but sadness and misery, to all those who dare to wear the cursed mask of the Black Rose."

"I didn't know where the mask would bring me," Destiny retorted, "it wasn't _my_ fault."

"Never mind that," the violet-haired, masked woman snapped, "who are you? Truthfully."

"I'm…" Destiny opened her mouth to tell her who she really was, _your daughter, _but the words would not come. It was as if they were frozen behind her lips, her tongue refused to pronounce the syllables; not by will, but by force.

She was bound not to say anything.

It was that moment that she remembered the words that Akiza had just spoken.

"_This place brings nothing but sadness and misery, to all those who dare to wear the cursed mask of the Black Rose."_

_It's brought me here to taunt me, _Destiny realised, _to show me what I most desire yet to dangle it just out of my reach._

It was then that she wished for nothing more than to break the mask and watch it shatter into a thousand pieces.

"…someone," she finished lamely, glaring at the ground, tears threatening to spill.

Akiza was anything but impressed with the girl's reply. She had asked for the truth and what she had got was a measly attempt at a lie.

_Pathetic, _she thought, yet, as she looked down at this Witch of Dark Destiny, she could not help but be taken by surprise.

Looking at her now, she looked different than she did in the pictures in the paper. She looked so young. At first she had thought perhaps sixteen or seventeen, but now she thought thirteen/fourteen. And she looked so… sad. Heartbroken. She could swear that she heard the sound of sobbing beneath the girl's mask.

She reached out for her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently.

She recoiled from her touch.

"I can't tell you," she whispered back.

Children were not Akiza's forte, and she had absolutely no idea how to deal with this broken young teenager.

_Think of Luna, _she tried to think back to the young Signer – she would be in her twenties now. Somehow though, when she looked at the young psychic, she couldn't picture Luna in her place.

Only one other thought came to mind.

_Destiny._

How would she comfort her daughter in this situation? With a sudden thought she realised that the daughter that she had only ever seen as a newborn baby would be just about the same age as the sobbing girl standing only a few feet away from her.

With a sudden bout of compassion, she wrapped her arms around the child and held her close. As if on cue, Black Rose Dragon began to touch its snout to that of Dark Destiny Dragon.

It was nothing short of a strange sight – and embrace of two very different dragons and two identically dressed, masked females: one a grown woman and one a mere child.

Destiny relaxed into her mother's embrace. This was all that she'd ever wanted. Yet it would not last – the mask was a cruel thing – and she knew that time was fast running out.

_This moment will remain precious to me always, _Destiny decided as she felt herself begin to fade away, _even if I wake up believing this was just a dream._

She held tighter onto Akiza, never wanting to let go.

_The mask is taking us back, mistress, _she heard her dragon growl within her mind.

_Then let it take us. Remaining in this torture will rid me of all sanity._

Akiza, noticing that the girl was disappearing, began to loosen her grip – mostly out of shock. The girl shook her head.

"Don't let me go," she whispered, clutching Akiza tighter.

The former witch complied, and returned her hold on the young teen.

"Who are you?" she asked again, her voice quieter this time and not filled with irritation, but instead gentleness.

The Witch of Dark Destiny only shook her head – for about the millionth time.

"The mask's cruelty knows no bounds," was all she heard before the girl and her dragon disappeared, leaving the magenta-haired woman alone with Black Rose in the mask's world of shadows and horror.

* * *

Destiny awoke with a gasp and tugged the mask off of her face, throwing it away from her and holding Red Destiny close to her chest.

"Why co you taunt me with dreams?" she asked the white, inanimate object.

She thought momentarily of Akiza – her mother – dressed in the cloak and mask of the Black Rose.

She had been so close, yet so far away.

* * *

"Akiza!"

Akiza awoke with a start to Jenna shaking her sweaty form. It was then that she remembered.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

"You scared me," Jenna told her, "you were having a nightmare of some sort. You kept tossing about and muttering really loudly.

"I was having a nightmare…" Akiza murmured, recalling the girl that was the Witch of Dark Destiny, her sadness and pain. And what she had said about the mask just before she vanished.

"_The mask's cruelty knows no bounds."_

"You kept saying something about a mask," Jenna informed, "are you sure you're okay? I mean, I think I've got some sleeping pills or something if you want any…"

"I'm fine," Akiza interrupted, "it was just one nightmare."

"Okay then, if you insist," Jenna slowly got up and made her way out of the room, leaving Akiza to dwell in her thoughts.

That dream – nightmare – as vivid as it was, had left her only more curious about the Witch of Dark Destiny, who she was and why she wouldn't, or couldn't, answer her question.

_I'm thinking too much into this, _the violet-haired woman thought as she lay back down, _it was just a dream, after all._

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, is it okay? I wanted to have them meet, but not officially, so I thought that putting them in their witch gear and Destiny not being able to tell the truth to Akiza was a good idea. Tell me what you think!**


	21. Blurred

**EchoGirl: So, whoo I'm finally back from Germany. Let me tell you, getting back home at 3 in the morning is not a pleasant experience. Stupid nine hour bus drive - damn those BA strikes!**

**Goldfish: Well, I can positively say that I had an extremely good time while you were gone.**

**EchoGirl: And getting back home to discover that you're goldfish has been doing nothing but plotting to take over the world _again _can be incredibly irritating.**

**Goldfish: That's my job.**

**EchoGirl: It's okay though, I brought you something.**

**Goldfish: Really? What?**

**EchoGirl: (holds up cat)**

**Cat: Meow.**

**Goldfish: Holy mother of-**

**EchoGirl: Do not finish that sentence. (puts down Cat beside goldfish bowl)**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 20**

Destiny was lost in thought as she walked home from Duel Academy with the rest of the gang. Mark glanced at her.

"You okay?" he asked, voicing what the others where thinking. She'd been spacing out for the past twenty after all. Well, technically she had been spaced out for the past half-hour, but she had almost walked straight into a lamppost and Jake had to pull her out of the way which had brought her temporarily back to reality.

Destiny shook her head sharply, relieving her mind of whatever thoughts had been plaguing it.

"I'm fine," she told them.

Jake snorted loudly. "Yeah, right. You've been completely out of it all day. You weren't listening _at all_ in class or even when Chania and her cronies were bitching at you."

Destiny sighed. It was true – she'd been distant for the past day, unresponsive and constantly lost in thought.

"I didn't sleep well last night," she admitted, thinking back on the dream that the mask had given her. It had been so vivid at first, but now it was blurred. All she could remember was that she had been in the realm of the mask of the Black Rose and that her mother had been there, holding her in her arms, but that was it. She could only remember feelings – no images, no sounds or touches.

"It had something to do with the mask, right?" Vanessa asked, raising a ginger eyebrow. Destiny nodded. She hadn't told them about her dream yet.

"I slept with it on and it took me to its realm, or something, and I think my mom was there, as the Black Rose, and our dragons were there too, but that's all that I can remember… it was so vivid when I first woke up," she explained.

Mark nodded, "and now you've spent the entire day trying to remember the dream," he completed.

"Sounds like a complete waste of time if you ask me," Jake muttered, "dreams are dreams. Nothing more."

"No," Destiny disagreed, "this dream was special. It meant something."

"Maybe you're right," Vanessa said, "but you never know: the mask was probably just messing with you. I think you're looking too much into this."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, running a hand through his long ice-blue hair, "if you keep thinking about this too much you're going start getting grey hairs and wrinkles," he grabbed a handful of her violet-streaked hair and brought it up to his face, examining it closely. He picked out a single strand. "I think I see one now."

"Hey!" Destiny laughed, pulling her hair from his grip, "I'm not going grey!"

"Nope," Vanessa giggled, "I'm pretty sure that was a grey hair. And are those," she poked Destiny cheek, "_wrinkles_?"

"Premature ageing," Jake told her informatively, joining in with the others teasing, "is known to happen to young adults and teenagers under severe stress. Let's just hope that you don't go bald too. No one wants all your lovely hair falling out."

"Very funny, guys," Destiny replied, rolling her eyes at them, but no one missed the faint blush on her cheeks at Jake having referred to her hair as 'lovely'. Chris, Mark and Vanessa couldn't stop themselves from sniggers, receiving a cold glare from Jake in the process.

Their jaws clamped shut and the sniggering immediately subsided.

"But seriously, Queenie," Chris said. 'Queenie' was a nickname that the twins had given her ever since she had been arrested for the third time for illegal turbo duelling when she was nine years old and the media had started calling her 'the Future Queen of Riding Duels'. "You take a rest from this Black Rose/Witch of Dark Destiny thing. It's really beginning to tire you out."

The others nodded in agreement and Destiny bit her lip.

"I was thinking about that," she admitted after a moment, "this is important to me, but I guess you're right. If I keep this up I'll be so exhausted that I won't be able to do anything anymore."

"Yeah," Vanessa said enthusiastically, "and you don't want to miss the WRGP opening party tomorrow night, do you? We didn't undergo the torture of all that shopping for nothing, after all?"

The dark-haired duellist smiled at the younger girl, "I guess not. We hopefully won't have to do that again for a while."

"Hey, guys," Mark stopped suddenly, his face a shade paler than usual, "I just remembered something."

"Spit it out then," Jake snapped.

"Chania's parents are going to be at the opening thing. And you know what that means."

"You're kidding me," Destiny groaned, "Chania's going to be there?"

Jake tilted back his head and stared at the sky in frustration, emitting a growl of annoyance. Chris nudged him and smirked.

"Looks like unless you want to be stalked by cheap blondes, you're gonna be spending the whole night hiding in the little boy's room. Have fun!"

Jake elbowed him, hard. "I will never resort to hiding! And definitely not hiding somewhere as degenerate as the men's bathroom!"

Chris laughed, "well then, I'm pretty sure that Chania'll find you in the girls' bathroom."

This merited a laugh from the entire group, and a firm punch in the arm from Jake.

"Well," Destiny sighed once they were done snickering, "I guess we've had worse ruined than just a one-night party," she turned to the twins, "remember Santa when we were six?"

Both Mark and Chris rolled their identical pale blue eyes.

"Tell me about it," Mark replied.

Chris nodded in agreement. "Uncle Jack is such a killjoy."

* * *

_**Danson City**_

Lilith Izinski glanced at her violet-haired younger cousin from across the table.

"Aki?" she asked, successfully rousing the woman from her dream-like sleep.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" she asked tentatively, "Jenna told me that you had some sort of nightmare last night."

Akiza shook her head, her eyes once again darkening as she tried to remember the elusive dream she'd had only the night before.

"It was strange," she told the other woman, "but for some reason I can't remember it."

"That happens a lot," Lilith supplied, "loads of people don't remember their dreams."

Once again, Akiza only shook her head.

"No," she said, "this one was different. It was special, important somehow, but I don't know why. It was so vivid, real, when I first woke up and then it just got… y'know, blurry. Ugh," she groaned and put her head in her hands, "I feel like a should remember this."

"Quit stressing, Akiza," her cousin told her, "or you'll injure yourself or something. You could start ageing prematurely and get grey hair and wrinkles and stuff."

Akiza glared at her, her catlike brown eyes narrowed, "you have a phobia of that sort of thing," she muttered.

"I like my body staying young," Lilith defended before softening her voice. "But really, Aki, chill. Just lie down, relax. Go see a movie with Damien or something."

"Lilith," Akiza sighed, "Damien and I are just friends, I am in no way romantically interested in him and I doubt that I ever will be so just drop it. Seriously, between you, Nadia and Jenna playing matchmaker the whole time it's a wonder that I haven't gone suicidal."

Lilith raised her hands in surrender, "okay, okay, don't go see a movie with Damien. Besides, it could just have been a friendship date but whatever. Relax at home and watch some TV or something. I heard that they're showing the New Domino WRGP opening night live on TV tomorrow night. You like duelling, don't you?"

_That _caught Akiza's attention.

"The WRGP?" she asked, remembering the one that she had been in almost sixteen years ago. Hopefully this WRGP would not involve having to save the world from certain doom. Damn Yliaster for that.

"Aki?" Lilith asked, waving a hand in front of her face, "you're spacing out again."

Aki shook her head and gave Lilith her first genuine smile of the day.

"Maybe I will."

* * *

**EchoGirl: It's pretty short, I know, but I'll have the next chapter up shortly. The WRGP opening night! That'll be fun, won't it, Goldfish?**

**(Cat paws goldfish bowl)**

**Goldfish: Get it away from me! Get it away! Down! Bad kitty! Bad kitty, down!**

**(Cat continues to paw and hiss at bowl)**

**EchoGirl: (sighs) What an effective torture device. I finally found a way to get the goldfish to shut up. Please review!**


	22. The Opening Night Part 1

**EchoGirl: The cat is keepin Goldfish busy, which is good. Anyways, I don't have much to say about this chapter, only that I hope you like it. It's the first part of the bit that you've been waiting for! The WRGP opening night! P.S. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 21**

"How are we getting to the opening ceremony place, thing?" Destiny asked from where she stood by the sofa, smoothing out the invisible creases in silky black material of her dress. She glanced at her father, who was shrugging into his typical dark blue jacket.

_Men never have to bother about their appearance, _she thought irritably, glancing down at her dress and tugging slightly at the neckline in an attempt to make the constricting outfit slightly more comfortable. _It's only for one night, _she reasoned with herself, _and at least I got something that I can actually _move _in._

"Jack's picking us up in Carly's car," Yusei replied without turning around.

Destiny winced.

"That's gonna be a tight squeeze," she commented, remembering how crammed Carly's car could get. And if she remembered well enough, there was still evidence of the time that Dylan had thrown up in the backseat two years ago. She shuddered, remembering how she had also been in the backseat at the time. "Do we have to? Can't we just take the duel runner?"

Yusei chuckled and began to turn to face her.

"Last I remember, duel runners and evening dresses don't go well together," as he turned completely to face her and his blue eyes widened before a frown formed on his face, Destiny remembered that she hadn't actually _shown _her father what she was wearing yet – and she had to admit, the dress did show a lot of skin, too much, evident.

"_What_ exactly are you wearing?" he asked as his eyes trailed across his daughter, scrutinising her choice of attire. Let's just say, he was not best pleased; okay, the dress wasn't _that _bad but it was bad enough with its low neckline, fishtail skirt, bare arms, cinched waist, and silky midnight material which clung to Destiny slender frame, emphasising what curves she had.

Yep. They were _definitely _taking the car.

"A dress?" Destiny responded uncertainly, fidgeting with her fingers. "It was the best the shop had, I mean, I don't fit anything in the kids' section anymore so this is all I got. I don't even want to wear it, but I'm female: it's protocol, I have to," she turned her gaze to the floor, "and it sucks."

"Well, we're taking the car," Yusei told her, "your dress will rip if we take the runner."

"Can't we walk?" Destiny persisted, still not wanting to have to be crammed into her aunt Carly's tiny car with five people and no doubt with both Jack and Jake complaining the whole way. "It's not far."

Her father merely looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You walking the streets of New Domino at then o'clock at night wearing _that_? No way."

Destiny huffed and folded her arms. Most teenager girls only had to deal with one overprotective adult – Destiny had a father and three uncles (not by blood relation, but they were closer to her than any by blood relation could be) who would quite happily knock out any boy that so much as approached her with less than innocent thoughts.

"Fine. We'll take the car."

* * *

_**Danson City**_

"Jenna?" Akiza asked her friend from the sofa diagonal from her, the TV was playing quietly in the background.

"Mm?" Jenna responded, flicking through the TV paper.

"What time does the WRGP opening party start?" she asked, "Lilith told me that it was on tonight."

"Oh, yeah, it, um," she flicked back a few pages to find the double page that was devoted to the WRGP – the opening night at least. "It have just started. Channel 312."

Instantly, Akiza seized the remote and changed channels, just in time to see the inside of the dome building that she herself had been in with the rest of Team 5D's for the exact same thing nearly sixteen years earlier.

"It looks just the same," she mused, not paying attention to what the snobby reported Angela was saying, just gazing at the massive room through the window that was the TV screen, seeing who she could recognise.

For a moment she thought she recognised Team Unicorn, and, she squinted, was that _Sherry Leblanc_? But the camera had moved away before she could check and continued to scan the room. Something was different though. There were more guests than ever.

_Families, _she realised. Duellists had brought their families to the party.

Yet, though her eyes searched desperately through the crowds, the one team that she was looking for wasn't there.

"The favourite for the WRGP, Team 5D's," that was Akiza's cue to snap back to attention at what the blonde reporter was saying, "have not yet arrived for the opening, but it is confirmed that they will be arriving shortly."

_Hurry up, _she commanded mentally. This would be her first sight of the entire team in years, and she couldn't keep down her anticipation. Where they happy? Married? Have children?

Have everything that she had given up? What she desired most?

"Chill, Aki," Jenna soothed, she passed Akiza a bowl of popcorn that she seemed to have magically acquired, "they'll be there soon. Don't start choking on that popcorn because of your anticipation, by the way, because I'd hate having to give you the heimlich."

Akiza gave her a confused glance, "but you've never given anyone the heimlich."

"Exactly," Jenna replied, bringing another popcorn to her lips, "basically, just don't die on me."

Just as Akiza's mouth curled into a smile, Angela's voice sounded from the TV.

"And it looks like Team 5D's has finally made it."

Akiza's attention immediately shifted as the camera swivelled to where a large group was just entering the room.

* * *

_**New Domino City**_

After ten minutes of being squashed between Yusei and Jake, Destiny had never been happier to get out of a car before. She saw that Crow and Kalin along with their wives and children as well as Luna and Leo were waiting on the sidewalk for them.

She heard one of the twins – most likely Chris, but she couldn't see – wolf-whistle as she exited the car and push back her loose hair.

"Looking good, Destiny!"

She spun around and glared; it was Chris, just as she suspected.

"Shut up," she called back as the two groups met and began to make their way up the steps, "you're just jealous that you can't pull off this look yourself."

"I'm no cross dresser!" Chris yelled as they entered the building.

"Actually," Violet piped up from between Destiny and Vanessa, her dark hair tied in a dark purple ribbon, "big brother got pictures of you from that time you got dared to wear that dress at Destiny's eleventh birthday party."

Chris paled and turned to the tall blond boy in question. "You didn't."

Jake merely smirked, Destiny couldn't help but notice how alike he and Jack looked, especially with that identical smirk on their smug faces.

"Sure did. Very effective for blackmailing purposes."

"Ah, well," Chris shrugged and glanced at his identical twin, "if you do, I can always say that it's Mark."

"Hey!" Mark exclaimed angrily, only to be shushed by Kalin.

"Will you lot keep your voices down! Everyone inside can probably hear you."

The arguing youngsters fell silent and blushes coloured their faces. They had reached the door, which, Destiny knew from experience, was not soundproof. This thing was being recorded live. Their strange, childish, yet playful, argument was probably being broadcasted to the world.

_Well, that's an excellent start, _she thought sarcastically as she slowed and fell into step with her father and the entire group entered the room.

* * *

_**Danson City**_

Akiza couldn't contain a gasp as the doors opened and the camera zoomed in on the fairly large group that had just entered.

First she saw the twins, Luna and Leo, with their easily recognisable turquoise hair and golden eyes. She was shocked by how much they had grown – they weren't the carefree young children that she had attended Duel Academy with.

_They must be about twenty-six or twenty-seven now; _she realised, covering her mouth with one hand, _nearly thirty._

For some reason that she couldn't fathom she felt saddened, ashamed even, that she had missed them growing up. They had looked up to her like an older sister and she had just walked out on them. A smile broke out across her face, however, when she noticed Leo give a bounce and grin and laugh widely and nudge his sister before rushing for the buffet table.

Maybe they hadn't grown up so much. That was good.

Next she caught sight of a mop of spiky carrot-coloured hair and a heavily criminal marked face.

_Crow, _she thought. He didn't look a day older than when she had last seen him. He still had the same unruly hair and wore the same old clothes.

It was then that she noticed the small, slender, brunette woman by Crow's side, her arm linked with his. Akiza was positive that she had seen her before.

_Emma, _she remembered, thinking back on that skinny, shy girl from Satellite. If she remembered correctly, then Crow had been incredibly fond of her: but was she Emma _Hogan _now?

Her question was answered when she noticed a tiny hand in Emma's – a little boy, no older than five or six, had one arm wrapped around the woman's legs. He had brown hair, the exact same shade as Emma's, but had wide grey eyes and that untameable spiky hairstyle. Moments later, a girl, maybe about eleven years old, appeared beside Crow and smiled widely. It didn't take Akiza even a second to work out whose child she was – the flaming ginger head gave it all away.

"…and Jack Atlas and his family also appear to be in attendance…"

Akiza's brown gaze skipped over to the unmistakable blond standing only a few feet away from Crow and his family. He too, looked exactly the same as he had sixteen year ago. He still towered over the others in the room, standing at over six feet, and still wore that white trench coat. Another smile touched the violet-haired woman's lips as she noticed Carly beside Jack, inch-thick glasses and all, holding a notepad and pen.

She was still a reporter? Was she actually with Jack or just reporting on the party? Secretly, Akiza had always been hoping for Jack and Carly – she knew how much she had changed him from the cold-hearted, arrogant man he had been (or at least changed him a tiny bit). She brought out the best in him more than Mina or Stephanie ever had.

She burst out laughing, however, when Jack turned to speak to her and after a few words grabbed her notepad away from her saying something along the line of "why are you reporting on this? You're a guest here!" with Carly responded with something along the lines of "hey, I actually _like _my job! I'm trying to get insider interviews!" this continued with Jack holding Carly's notepad above her head and Carly desperately jumping to try and reach it. Of course, she had nothing on Jack's height.

Akiza's gaze then slid to two children rolling their eyes at the ridiculous. Her eyes widened when she looked at the older one – the boy. One thought passed through her mind.

"Did Jack Atlas _clone _himself?" Jenna asked, staring at the boy, voicing Akiza's own thoughts word for word.

"He probably just got all of Jack's chromosomes," Akiza reasoned. On closer inspection, she noticed a few, almost indistinguishable differences: the eyes were slightly bigger, the braids shorter.

But one thing struck he as she gazed at the boy – he looked exactly like the boy in those photos online.

Her eyes narrowed. "That boy cannot be my future link to Jack Atlas. No way."

Very slowly, her gaze passed to the younger of the two. A dark haired girl, about a head shorter than the Jack Atlas clone. She looked up at the blond boy with an expression of awe, almost worship. Looking closely, Akiza realised that their eyes were the same colour, both a deep shade of purple.

_She must be his sister, _she thought, looking the two of them over. The girl, she realised, looked a lot like Carly, apart the eyes and the sharp, fine-featured face. Those were Jack's.

Looks like Jack chose Carly after all.

"…and it looks like the second generation decided to tag along as well," Angela's annoying voice once again pierced her ears, "and there is still talk about the recent scandal involving Jake Atlas and…"

The next thing she realised was that Angela had gone silent and both Jack _and _Jake were giving the reporter equally dangerous, threatening glares. Once again, Akiza dared to burst out laughing, it was evident that Jack hadn't lost his touch and also that he'd been passing it down.

"…and there are the Kesslers," Angela recovered as the camera pointed at none other than Kalin Kessler and a woman with whom his fingers were entwined with and two identical twins aged around thirteen.

This took the violet-haired woman by surprise. She had only ever known Kalin during his time as a Dark Signer and afterwards he had disappeared to Crash Town. She hadn't known him well, and had practically despised him during his time as Dark Signer – mostly because he'd been trying to kill Yusei. He seemed to be fine now, though, smiling and laughing with his family and the rest of the team.

Those twins though, she couldn't help but think, they looked like troublemakers.

There was just one more person to go before the team was complete. Him.

"And the current turbo duelling champion has finally arrived!" Angela announced to the camera before it zoomed in on the one person that Akiza so longed to see.

"Yusei," she whispered, not noticing the strange looks Jenna was giving her.

He didn't look a day older than he had when he was eighteen, and he was stilled dressed in that same amber-studded blue jacket. Sapphire blue eyes glanced around the room and for a moment stared directly at the camera, causing Akiza breath to hitch in her throat, before their owner moved to stand beside and speak with Crow, Emma and Luna.

It was then that Akiza noticed the waterfall of violet streaked raven hair that stood beside Yusei.

…Was it?

"And it looks like the future queen of riding duels decided to tag along with her father too," Angela's voice informed her.

Then the girl turned, revealing a fair, fine-featured face, a full mouth and dazzling catlike blue eyes.

There was no mistaking it. It was her.

For a moment, a tiny smile graced the girl's lips before she turned back to Yusei, whispered something to him and disappeared into the crowds.

Akiza was silent for a while. When she did speak, her voice was a mere croak, hoarse and whispered.

"Destiny."

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, yep, that was it for part 1. Part 2 should be up pretty soon since I have, like, a tonne of free time on my hands so, yeah, review. Right, Goldfish?**

**Goldfish: Get it away from me! Get it away!**

**EchoGirl: (sighs and picks up cat) Better?**

**Goldfish: Finally! Reviews are good. I'm officially going to take a one chapter break of taking over the world once we get over 200 reviews.**

**EchoGirl: 200 reviews... **


	23. The Opening Night Part 2

**EchoGirl: Well, I got over 200 reviews! Yipee! That means... I'm really sorry about this Goldfish...**

**Goldfish: Huh? Wha-**

**EchoGirl: (grabs Goldfish bowl, locks bowl in extremely complicated safe, drags safe to nearest cupboard, places safe on top shelf, comes out of cupboard and locks at least ten extremely complex locks. Wipes hands) There. That should do the trick.**

**Cat: Meow.**

**EchoGirl: Meow indeed. Now, Cat, who doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's?**

**Cat: Meow.**

**EchoGirl: Exactly. I don't.**

**

* * *

**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 22**

Akiza was pale and dizzy-looking, her eyes glued to the TV screen. Jenna could not help but feel slightly concerned for her friend. She quietly moved over onto Akiza's sofa and shook the violet-haired woman's arm.

"Aki," she hissed, shaking her harder, "Akiza, snap out of it!"

Akiza blinked and shook her head sharply before returning to reality. She turned her head slowly towards Jenna, her deep brown eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Aki, what's wrong?" Jenna's voice gentler now and she loosened her grip on the other woman's arm.

Turning her head away, the violet-haired woman permitted a single tear to escape and trickle down one cheek, her voice was quiet as she answered Jenna's question.

"She's gotten so big," she whispered, folding her arms slightly and rocking them back and forth, as if cradling an invisible infant, "my baby."

Jenna, truthfully, was speechless. She had never seen her best friend act like this. Akiza had always been strong, no matter what – a trait that the brunette had always admired – and now she finally understood why.

Akiza had seen many horrors in her life and had experienced more suffering than Jenna could even imagine: her parents' mistreatment; her time in the Arcadia Movement; the pain she had both suffered and inflicted during her time as the Black Rose; Sayer's death and betrayal; her battles with the Dark Signers; Sayer's _actual _death; her redemption and her time with Team 5D's.

But even all of that – all that pain and horror, joy and love – didn't even rival this one. One of the worst pains any woman could ever suffer.

The pain of a mother having to give up her child.

Glancing once more at Akiza, she noticed that her friend was still out of it; rocking her slender arms though they held only air, her eyes distant and cloudy.

"I only held her for less than an hour," she murmured before ceasing her cradling and wrapping her arms tightly around her slender form, the tears flowing freely now. "Less than an hour…"

Manoeuvring so as she could comfort the distressed woman, holding her in a gentle embrace, Akiza's head resting on her shoulder. She felt the dampness of salty tears on her shirt.

"Shh," she shushed, gently rocking back and forth, like one would while comforting a child, for Akiza truly was as fragile as one, "it's all right. Shh."

Akiza remained very still as her tears soaked Jenna's shirt. She didn't move or shake, just relaxing in the temporary comfort that her friend offered her. She shook her slightly and whispered almost inaudibly.

"I want my baby."

* * *

_**New Domino City**_

"Good thing I haven't seen Chania yet," Destiny murmured as she meandered through the throng of duellists and family alike, trying to get to the buffet table where Leo was currently stuffing his face. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch at the academy.

She suddenly lurched at an undeniable pain in her chest, like her heart was shattering into a thousand pieces. Breathing hard in shock and fright, she clutched a hand to her heart.

_What was that?_

A moment later she stumbled backwards at the sound of a whispered voice inside her head, to quiet for her to recognise yet it seemed somehow familiar.

"_I want my baby."_

_Right, that's it,_ Destiny decided, _no more caffeine for me and especially none of Jack's disgusting Blue Eyes Mountain crap…I always knew there was something fishy about that stuff…_

"Destiny?" a voice asked from behind her. It was then that Destiny realised that when she'd stumbled she'd collided with another body – one that was now supporting her. She spun around to come face-to-face with a pair of emerald eyes in a fair, angular face framed by cascades of golden hair.

"Sherry?" she asked after a moment's confusion, staring up at the tall female turbo duellist.

The woman nodded, and Destiny noted that she was still wearing her typical red-and-white riding suit and black protective padding.

_Jeez, does that woman_ ever _change outfits? I mean, really, she could at least take all the protective gear off._

Of course, she didn't mention any of this out loud, merely looked up at the woman with a polite smile playing at her lips.

"Hi."

"Hello," Sherry returned the greeting before moving straight to the point, "I wasn't expecting you here."

"I never miss the tournaments," Destiny explained, "especially not the WRGP."

"Mm," the blonde responded, "is the rest of Team 5D's here?"

"Over there," Destiny pointed towards where she had left her father chatting with Emma and Crow.

"I see," Sherry nodded before turning back to the younger duellist. "Bruno's not here?"

Destiny shifted her weight slightly and shrugged. "Uncle Bruno's got some important work or something to do abroad. He should be back later this week. Saturday, I think."

"Interesting. How's your turbo duelling going?"

"Great," Destiny replied enthusiastically, "I can almost beat dad in a flat out race **(AN: she's just using one of the tester duel runners that Yusei, Jack and Crow made) **and he said my control's excellent."

"Very good," Sherry complimented, but it was clear that her mind was somewhere else, "are you getting your own runner soon?"

"Dad promised that we could start working on one together after my birthday."

"Hm," Sherry nodded absently, before moving off to where Yusei stood with the rest of Team 5D's, now including Leo who'd stumbled back there with about three plates in his hand.

Destiny frowned, watching her go.

"Nice to see you too," she muttered before heading for the buffet table.

* * *

"Yusei," Sherry greeted as she approached the dark-haired champion.

He looked up to see the tall blonde walking towards him.

"Sherry."

"I take you've heard all the ruckus about the new psychic duellist in town," she stated as she reached him, a glass of Champaign in one hand.

He nodded once in reply. "It's impossible not to. The appearance of the Witch of Dark Destiny is the biggest piece of news New Domino has had since it became one with the Satellite. It's not surprising that you have heard it too – you always did take an interest in psychic duellists."

"They intrigue me," Sherry replied simply, taking another sip from her glass. Her emerald eyes turned to him. "I bumped into your daughter earlier."

He glanced at her and it was at that moment that he knew that she knew.

"It's what she feels she has to do and I am not inclined to stop her."

"But you do not like it."

"No," he admitted, his sapphire eyes searching for the object of their conversation in the crowd. He spotted her by the buffet table.

"Watch out, Fudo," the blonde female warned, "she's a very special girl. One that many would use to further their own gain."

"I know," Yusei nodded. Sherry looked at him.

"Somehow I don't think you do. I'm not stupid, Yusei, I know who the girl's mother is. And if the myths are correct then you have much more to worry about than you think."

He spun to face her fully.

"What do you mean? What _myths_?"

"She is the child of two Signers," Sherry told him, examining her manicured fingernails, "and if the myths I've heard are correct then that means that she wields a power that rivals that of all five Signers combined. There are many people who would use that kind of power for their selfish reasons."

Shocked by this new piece of information, Yusei opened his mouth to respond but Sherry was already on her way out, her long blonde hair swishing behind her.

_A power that rivals that of all five Signers combined?_

Meanwhile, Destiny had gathered up a decent amount of food and was heading back to the rest of Team 5D's, just in time to see Sherry leave. She stopped beside Yusei and slipped on of the snacks on cocktail sticks into her mouth, using her teeth to remove the food and removing the cocktail stick, placing it back on her plate.

"What did she want?" She asked, indicating to where the blonde had just exited. She was still rather peeved at Sherry for blowing her off.

Yusei looked down at her, as if just noticing that she was there beside him. He put a hand on the back of her head and stroked her glossy raven hair and gave her one of his rare smiles. "Nothing important, you go on talk to Jake and the others."

Sensing that something was indeed bothering him, but deciding not to push any further, she nodded, "sure," and headed over to where Jake, Chris, Mark, Vanessa and Violet were speaking – Dylan was currently being held by Crow.

"Hey, guys," she greeted, joining the circle, "what's up."

"Hey, Queenie," Violet greeted, and Destiny had to roll her eyes: it seemed like the youngest member of the Atlas family had also picked up on the annoying nickname that the twins had given her. It wouldn't be long before the media caught hold of it. _Joy._

"Uh-oh," she heard Chris say, "stalker princess at three o'clock."

She and the rest of the gang – including Violet – spun around in direction that Chris had given them and he was right. Definitely stalker princess at three o'clock.

Dressed in a skin-tight gown of white silk (which was far more revealing than that of any of Team 5D's females) and looking as smug as ever Chania Deltoure approached, swaying her hips from side to side in a motion that Destiny a feeling that reminded her of seasickness. She stopped in front of the group and gave them a dazzling smile.

"Well, look who it is, the society rejects – it's a wonder they ever let you in here."

Destiny shut her sapphire eyes tight in irritation. This was just fabulous.

_This girl seriously can't take a hint._

_

* * *

_**EchoGirl: The plot thickens! Yeah, anyway, this chapter wasn't particularly long and, I'm sorry guys, but there's gonna be a part 3. I wasn't sure how I was gonna fit everything in but don't worry! Part 3 will be the last bit then I'll move onto something else. So tell me what you think of this chapter and I'll have part 3 up shortly.**

**Cat: Mrrow.**

**EchoGirl: That's cat for review.**

**(Muffled sounds coming from closet)**

**EchoGirl: Oh, quit moaning in there! You'll be out once part 3 is over!**


	24. The Opening Night Part 3

**EchoGirl: Heyas! I said I'd get the final part up soon, didn't I? Anyways, this is the final part of the Opening Night so I hope you enjoy!**

**Cat: Meow.**

**(Thunderous banging sounds from inside closet.)**

**EchoGirl: Keep it down in there! I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 23**

"Chania," Destiny sighed in greeting.

_This is just so typical of her, _she thought irritably before glancing at the others, _she better not ruin our evening._

Chania merely snorted and flipped her golden hair in response. She looked down at Destiny's feet and raised a contemptuous eyebrow.

"Nice boots."

Destiny too spared a glance at her feet. She had known from the start that if she had worn fancy stilettos like Chania was that she'd only embarrass herself. Instead she had decided to wear her favourite flat black boots that she'd had for practically years now (she had rather small feet after all). She looked back up at the sneering blonde.

"At least my feet won't end up a surgical disaster from trampling around in those murder weapons," she eyed the knife-like heels cautiously. With _those _shoes on, she'd be the first suspect at a stabbing scene.

Chania sneer faded as Destiny's lips coiled into a smirk and her hazel eyes hardened. She turned her gaze to the others, specifically Jake.

"We match," she stated the obvious, smiling widely as she indicated their white attire.

"Matching colours are too bland," Jake replied, not even bothering to meet her gaze, "I prefer contrast." On that note he moved to stand next to Destiny, his material of his white coat brushing that of her ebony dress.

Destiny couldn't suppress a grin as Chania's face contorted into a scowl. To take it a step further, she even dared to rest her head on Jake's shoulder. She was glad when he didn't move away, merely smirked at Chania whose brown eyes screamed bloody murder.

She watched as the slightly older female took several deep breaths, calming her fury, at least momentarily.

"Want to go grab something to eat, Jake?" she asked, plastering on a fake smile.

"I'm sure he'd rather be jumping up and down on your mangled corpse," came Chris's voice from Destiny's left.

It was probably one of the truest statements that Destiny had ever heard. She snickered at the look on Chania's face – redder than a tomato.

"Jake–" Chania began, but upon seeing the melting glare that he was giving her, not to mention the glares that the rest of the gang was glaring at her (Violet's was particularly frightful, Destiny had never seen such a look on the usually happy-go-lucky nine-year-old. It looked like Jake wasn't the only one that Jack had been teaching) and the glances that all the nearby adults – including the grown-up members of Team 5D's – were giving them, she merely glared back. After a moment she spoke in a clipped tone.

"Fine then; stay here with the little slut, but you don't know what you're missing." She blew a kiss at Jake just before Mark's voice piped up.

"You're one to talk, Deltoure. And Destiny isn't a slut – you are."

"Oh, I sincerely doubt that," Chania sneered before turning back to the fuming dark haired duellist in question. "Why don't you just go back to the brothels, Fudo?" she asked, her voice coated in mock pity, "they're probably where you came from anyway."

_Okay, that does it, _the words echoed in Destiny's enraged mind, _she is _so_ dead._

She didn't even bother to register the look of fear in Chania's eyes as she moved forward, one fist raised, yet before she swing she felt a restraining arm lock around her midriff, holding her back.

She struggled for a moment against Yusei's grip but finally relaxed as Robert and Ashlyn Deltoure hurriedly approached and stood just behind their cowering daughter.

"She was going to hit me!" Chania exclaimed to her mother. "For no reason!"

"You provoked me, liar!" Destiny yelled back, only to feel her father's grip on her tightening. It was then that she remembered where she was, at that the live camera was being pointed right at them.

_Oh, crap, _she thought as she realised that this whole scene was most likely being played to the entire world. _Crap._

* * *

_**Danson City**_

Akiza had finally calmed down and pushed herself away from Jenna, wiping away the tears, embarrassed at her unexpected outburst.

"Are…" Jenna began hesitantly, "are you sure that you want to keep watching this?"

Akiza nodded, wiping her eyes hastily. "I'm fine." She held out the bowl of popcorn to Jenna, "popcorn?"

Eyeing the former Black Rose Witch suspiciously, the brunette slowly took a piece of popcorn from the bowl and slipped it into her mouth. It was all too easy to see through her best friend's façade.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the voice of that irritating blonde reporter – Angela, or something like that – sounded on the television.

"_And it looks like we might have a fight breaking out between two of the junior guests!"_

_That _certainly caught the two women's attention and both their gazes snapped back to the TV set – Jenna's out of curiosity and Akiza's out of fear.

The sight that met their eyes was unexpected and shocking to say the least. A tall blonde girl was speaking rapidly to a man and woman behind her – her parents no doubt, after a moment of squinting Akiza recognised the man to be Robert Deltoure and the woman to be his fiancée, now wife evidently, Ashlyn Esme, now Deltoure. They were several years older than her and had known her parents, when she was younger she had met the two of them a few times. A rather snobbish lot in her opinion.

The next sight, however, shocked the violet haired duellist even more: Yusei had one arm wrapped tightly around an incredibly angry Destiny's waist, keeping her tightly pressed against his chest; restraining her.

"You provoked me, liar!" the dark-haired girl yelled at the blonde, struggling against her father's tight grip.

She then noticed her daughter's eyes glance towards the camera and her face pale.

"What?" the blonde exclaimed, letting what was clearly a crocodile tear slipped down her cheek, "you were the one who practically _attacked _me! I don't even know what happened."

"You know exactly what happened!" Destiny snapped, her fine-boned face contorted in fury.

Akiza had just moved out of one state of shock into another. She refused to believe a word that the Deltoure girl had just said, but it was clear that her daughter was in an offensive position and Yusei was restraining her.

She watched as Robert and Ashlyn placed one hand on each of the girl's shoulders and glared. Robert opened his mouth to speak, yet, for the first time, instead of addressing Destiny he addressed Yusei.

"Get that child a restraining order, Fudo, she's danger hazard."

She watched as Yusei's eyes narrowed and he loosened his grasp on Destiny, who had now relaxed slightly.

"I know exactly what happened, Mr. Deltoure, and I think that you should be teaching you're daughter civil manners. If I was in Destiny's position, I would have done the exact same thing." His response was icy cold and final, and with it he turned away and returned to the rest of the Team, Destiny shooting the blonde one hate-filled glare and muttering hissing 'coward' before following him, leaving the three Deltoures to gape after them.

Not that either of the woman caught the last part – it was far too quiet for anyone except Destiny herself to have picked up.

"Well," Jenna began as the camera moved away from the now resolved – or at least abandoned – argument, glancing at Akiza, "that was unexpected."

"Mm," Akiza nodded, looking distant.

"Seems you've got a daughter who isn't afraid of using violence," she commented, but it was clear that Akiza wasn't listening.

Akiza didn't doubt Yusei or Destiny words, and she suddenly felt immensely protective of the young dark haired girl that she'd held for less than one hour and her opinion of the blonde teen that she had just seen was one of dislike and even an undercurrent of loathing, as, even if it was just for a moment, she was certain that she had seen Destiny's sapphire eyes glittering with unshed tears.

What could that Deltoure girl have said that had made her little girl so upset? Upset enough to react with physical violence?

* * *

_**New Domino City**_

As soon as they back to the rest of the team, Yusei turned and spoke quickly to Kalin.

"I'm taking Destiny outside for some fresh air. I'll be back in time for the introduction about the circuit and rules."

Kalin nodded in understanding and Yusei and Destiny made their way out.

For a few moments they walked down the stairs in silence until Destiny couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out.

Yusei looked at her, sympathy shining in the depths of his sapphire eyes.

"I know what I did was wrong," she continued, "but I couldn't help it. She always taunts me about that sort of stuff, having grown up without a mother, and," her eyes began to well up, "I just can't handle it. It makes me so mad when she says all that stuff about mom and she never stops."

She buried her face in Yusei's sleeve just as the reached the doors that led outside.

"Shh," he comforted, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and letting her nestle her head in his side. "It's okay. I understand."

And he did understand. He had been an orphan along with Jack, Crow and some of the others. And when they were children, those who _had _had parents had always been taunting and discriminating them – and their reactions had been much the same as Destiny's had been.

They exited the building into the night. It was cold and raining heavily, the silver moon shining dimly from behind a cloud.

Destiny shivered and Yusei took off his jacket and placed it on her shoulders, she slipped her arms into the too-big sleeves and relaxed in the familiar scent and feeling of the blue, amber-studded garment.

"I don't think I've ever disliked anyone quite as much as I do Chania," she told him, "sometimes I think I might even hate her. The way she acts at least. Sometimes I just _want _to hurt her," she stared up at him with wide eyes, "does that make me a bad person?"

Yusei looked down at her and smiled softly. "No. It doesn't. It's only natural for you to want to hurt her when she hurts you," he touched her chin lightly, "you just have a different way of going about it."

She gave him a small smile, the beginning of a grin. It was true – Destiny used fists, or a duel disk and deck, where Chania used words; the crueller of the two, in Destiny's opinion.

_Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me, _the ironic old saying echoed in her mind.

"But deep down," Yusei continued, "I don't think you hate her. I think you pity her."

Pondering on the words for a few moments, Destiny realised that he was right. No matter how much she thought she did, she didn't hate Chania. She pitied her. Chania was mean, yes, and a bully too, but it was easy to see why. Chania didn't have any warmth in her life – her parents had been in an arranged marriage and didn't love each other and their lives were busy, full of work, never having enough time for their daughter; and truth be told, Chania didn't have any true friends. She had her cronies, yes, but they could hardly be counted as friends, they would turn on her at any moment if she fell out of favour as the 'most popular' or if someone else offered them more ample opportunities. Chania may be popular and beautiful and rich; but she lacked everything that Destiny treasured most in her life – friends and family and people who loved her for who she was. The people that made her everything she was. Chania didn't have those, and a cruel bitch that took advantage of other people's pain and weaknesses was what she was.

Yes, deep down it true, Destiny pitied Chania.

She looked up at her father, her eyes shining with admiration.

"You're right, I do pity her," with that she wrapped her arms completely around his waist and embraced him tightly. "You always know how to make me feel better."

They stood there like that for a moment. Her arms wrapped around his torso and her face buried in his chest while he smiled gently at her and stroked her long dark hair, now slick with rain, neither noticing how wet they were getting.

Then Destiny smiled, and decided to do something she hadn't done with her father in what must have been years.

"Tig!" she exclaimed, pushing away from him and down the ground area that belonged to the building.

Yusei stood there, stunned, for a few seconds, before his brain registered what was happening and took off after her.

Destiny laughed as she ran, her boots thudding on the concrete ground and her sopping wet hair sticking her face. The skirt dress was soaked through and the rain was beginning to seep through her father's jacket but she couldn't care less. There was a rather horrendous ripping sound as she tore the hem of dress, the material of which was practically glued to her legs. Her mind only just registered it.

_Oh well, _she thought, _not like I was going to wear it again anyway._

Before she knew what was happening, Yusei had caught up with her and grabbed her from behind, spinning her around in a wide circle. She shrieked in delight.

"Put me down! Put me down!"

_Oh the glory of acting like a child, _she thought as Yusei set her down and she turned to him, grinning widely. At that moment she felt like she was five years old again, and truly happy and carefree – there was no Chania, no Witch of Dark Destiny, no mask, no media.

"We're probably expected back inside now," she said disappointedly.

"I think so," Yusei agreed.

"I wonder what they're going to say to the champion and his daughter arriving in their big, fancy hall looking like they've just swum all the way to the Satellite and back."

"The media will certainly have more to talk about."

Destiny groaned. "Don't remind me. This is going to be, like, the sixth time this week that I've made the headlines."

They both burst out laughing at that final statement.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well, any good? I really liked writing the last part - just so you can get an idea of how close Yusei and Destiny are, y'know? Well... I gues it's time to release the dreaded goldfish.**

**(Opens closest door and poisoned dart come flying out, missing EchoGirl's face by three centimetres. Safe door is open.)**

**Goldfish: Damn.**

**EchoGirl: WTF? How did you open the safe door? And how on _earth _did you get a bloody poisoned dart launcher?**

**Goldfish: (loads another dart) That's for me to know and you to find out.**

**(Another dart just misses.)**

**EchoGirl: (breaks dart launcher) And now?**

**(Cat runs in)**

**Goldfish: Aw, hell.**

**EchoGirl: Exactly. Now what do we say?**

**Cat: Mrrow.**

**Goldfish: Reveiw.**


	25. The Admirable Grandchild

**EchoGirl: Well, I'm back and chapter 24 is now up! I hope you like it and if you're worrying about the personality I've built up for Destiny going up in flames, don't worry, I'm not going to turn her into one of those perfect, powerful protagonist characters. They're far too boring to wirte about ad what is a character without flaws, anyway?**

**Goldfish: An extremely boring and uninteresting person.**

**EchoGirl: Exactly.**

**Goldfish: I mean, I've got flaws and I'm the most interesting person ever! My flaws make me awesome enough to rule the world!**

**EchoGirl: (sighs) Just do the disclaimer already.**

**Goldfish: Fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 24**

_Well, _Destiny thought, as she flicked absentmindedly through the magazine she was reading, glancing at the pictures of the opening party from the night before, _last night was… interesting to say the least._

She paused as she came to a picture of herself – a close up of her face – grinning widely and completely soaked. She was still wearing Yusei's jacket and was leaving extremely conspicious large puddles on the expensive flooring, much to the cleaners' annoyance. Yet, she looked happier than ever, her blue eyes twinkling in delight and rain dripping down her forehead.

Smiling slightly, turned the page to see another picture, this time though she was shaking her head wildly, spraying the excess water in her hair onto the rest of the second generation who wear laughing (or scowling, in Jake's case).

Yes, they had successfully turned the formal opening night into a playground. Good times.

Her smile faded, however, as she got to a picture of herself being restrained from attacking Chania.

_Damn it, _she thought irritably, _of course the media just _had_ to get hold of _that.

And, typically, the picture had a whole page to itself with an entire article explaining what happened (not including the words that had been exchanged), talking about the 'almost-catfight' between future duel queen, Destiny Fudo, and Chania Deltoure, daughter of two of the most important people in New Domino City.

_Screw Chania and her fancy status, _Destiny thought angrily, _she deserved it. Plus, I would _never _stoop as low as a catfight._

Sighing, she closed the magazine and placed it down on the table before rolling onto her stomach. It was at that moment that she was struck with a sudden realisation.

Chania's parents where Robert and Ashlyn Deltoure. Robert and Ashlyn Deltoure were friends with Hideo and Setsuko Izinski. Her grandparents.

_Aw, crap, _Destiny thought after her revelation, _can this week get any worse? Well, today's a bank holiday. That's got to count for something._

She got up and stretched, yawning widely and headed for the garage area where her father was with Crow and Jack, Kalin had other business to attend to, working on the duel runner engine, _again, _no doubt hoping for Friday when the mechanical genius, her blue-haired Uncle Bruno, would be back in New Domino.

"Hey," she greeted as she entered the garage. The three glanced up from their work as she arrived.

"Dad," she continued, "I'm gonna go visit Hideo and Setsuko, 'kay? I'll be back by five."

Yusei nodded, "go ahead."

"Awesome," Destiny replied before grabbing an old grey hoodie from the railing and pulled it over her head. It was several sizes too big, with the oil-stained sleeves going about two inches past her fingertips and the actual body of the garment ending a third of the way down her thighs. "See ya," she waved, bounding up the stairs and out the door.

Letting the door slam behind her, Destiny pulled out her hair from where it had gotten trapped against her back when she had pulled on the hoodie and let it loose. It was windy, and the chilly breeze took no time at all to grab the raven and magenta strands and tease them gently across her face. Glancing down at her belt, she double-checked that her deck was definitely its holster before setting off for her grandparents' house in Tops. Even if she wasn't wearing a duel disk, her deck went everywhere with her. She practically didn't dare to let the precious cards out of her sight – she had even had them hidden in her boots at the opening night; another reason not to wear those ridiculous, flashy heels.

Her thoughts lingered on the night before, and what exactly she was going to say to her grandparents as way of an explanation, for there was no doubt that they _knew _Chania; and when it came to adults, Chania was always a perfect little angel.

_The perfect granddaughter, _Destiny concluded miserably as she reached the Izinski household, _everything they could ever have wished for. Instead they got me._

As she stared up at the large house that her mother had once called home, she was filled with a sudden, strong conviction and determination. She moved forward and rang the bell.

_Well, it's me they've got and they're just going to have to deal with it._

It was Setsuko that answered the door, a surprised look on her face as she glanced downward to see Destiny.

"Destiny?" she asked, cocking her head to one side as she stared at her granddaughter, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to say hi," Destiny replied brightly, "can I come in?"

"Uh, of course," Setsuko opened the door so as Destiny could step inside and closed the door behind them. She paused halfway.

"You didn't come on one of those atrocious pieces of machinery, did you?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"You mean a duel runner?" Destiny asked, remembering the older woman's clear dislike of the object Destiny thought of as the best piece of technology ever invented. "No, I didn't. I walked."

Setsuko nodded, "good," and closed the door completely. "Come into the living room," she gestured towards one of the doors and led the way. Destiny followed her wordlessly.

"Hideo's at the office," the older woman explained as they entered the spacious living room, "take a seat."

Sitting down on one of the two sofas, Destiny clasped her hands meekly in her lap and glanced around the room. It was certainly more extravagant than back home.

"Nice place," she commented. She hadn't really gotten a proper look last time, she'd only had one focus then, after all.

"Thank you. Would you like anything to eat? Drink?"

Destiny smiled and shook her head.

"I'm fine, thanks."

With a short nod of understanding the sixty-one-year-old sat down opposite her young granddaughter. For a moment the two females stared at each other, and Setsuko could not help but feel herself getting lost in Destiny's exquisite blue eyes.

Destiny coughed in an attempt to break the almost unbearable tension that hung over them.

"So," she began awkwardly, fidgeting with the too-long, black-stained sleeves of her grey hoodie.

_Oil stains, _Setsuko noted, eyeing the unseemly marks. She could very easily imagine Destiny working with her father on the engines of duel runners, wearing that exact same hoodie, dark hair messily tied back, the oil smeared across her face in a most unbecoming manner. She pushed the image to the back of her mind and instead refocused her attention on the same uncomfortable girl in front of her. Her granddaughter.

"Uh, how well do you know the Deltoures?"

Immediately Setsuko realised to what incident Destiny was referring to. She had not bothered to watch much of the WRGP opening night, not like the rest of the population had, but she had seen that one particular bit, not to mention that it was everywhere the next day.

"Hideo knows them better than I do," Setsuko admitted after a moment's pause, "he works quite closely with Robert. We've known him and Ashlyn since they was young – he was originally a neighbour of ours – and I have met Chania a few times, she was always very polite and well-behaved."

"Oh," was all Destiny said in response.

_Typical Chania, _she thought irritably, _always playing suck-up with the adults. Particularly the important ones._

"I know what it is that you're referring to," Setsuko continued, her questioning gaze penetrating into Destiny, making her feel even more uncomfortable, "and I cannot help but wonder why. Chania has always struck me as a perfectly nice girl. What did she do, or _say_, to provoke you into…_ attacking _her?"

"It was hardly an attack," Destiny muttered before lifting her gaze to meet Setsuko's, "and let me assure you: Chania is _not _a perfectly nice girl, it's all an act; she's about the biggest cow you'll ever come across."

Shocked by her granddaughter's sudden ferocity, Setsuko physically recoiled. "What do you mean?"

"Chania and I attend Duel Academy together," Destiny explained, "we're in the same year; she's a few months older than I am. We've never liked each other, she always gave me, y'know, bad vibes. She's… what you would describe as the most popular, the most beautiful, the most perfect. She always gets what she wants. And for three years now the thing she's been wanting most is my best friend, Jake Atlas."

"Your best friend?" Setsuko asked, confused.

"One of them," Destiny added quickly, though her mind whispered something else. "Maybe even more than that," her thoughts were voiced almost inaudibly. Setsuko didn't appear to have heard, or at least pretended that she hadn't, she merely looked curiously at Destiny.

"Keep going," she urged.

"She likes him, as in like likes him, because he's the only guy – not including Chris and Mark, but they're weird – that doesn't fall at her feet. And Chania's pretty carnal, if you know what I mean, I mean, she's making out – full on making out – with a different guy practically every three seconds. I don't even want to think about what she's done with half those guys," she shuddered in disgust as Setsuko held up a hand for her to stop, "and Jake's the only one who doesn't even look at her, and so she wants him. And before Vanessa started at the academy, I was the only girl Jake so much as even _spoke _to. So she hates me. It's a jealousy thing, basically."

Setsuko nodded, frowning. A love triangle. That explained a lot: love triangles could get incredibly messy.

"You haven't told me she did to provoke you, though," she reminded. Somehow, she didn't believe that Destiny would attack Chania; she wasn't just being biased since Destiny was her granddaughter, but it just seemed out of character for her.

"Well," Destiny began, gesturing with her hands, "Chania always knows exactly what to say to get me riled up: whether it be those damned internet photos; my friends or our Satellite origins; but her personal favourite really makes me want to strangle her sometimes. My mother."

"Akiza?" Setsuko asked, shocked at what Destiny was telling her. It was starting to make sense now, however. Chania had obviously said something about Akiza, her precious Akiza, which had forced Destiny to lash out at her.

Destiny closed her eyes and nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"What did she say?"

"She told me to go back to the brothels where I originally came from," Destiny replied simply, "basically she was calling me and mom… well, you know."

Setsuko did know, all too well, what Chania had meant and she was not too happy.

"She said that?"

"Yep."

No wonder Destiny had gone to hit her, Setsuko thought angrily, she would have done the exact same thing.

Before either grandmother or granddaughter could speak however, there was the sound of a door opening and Hideo's voices calling 'Setsuko, I'm home!"

"I'm in the living room, darling!" Setsuko called back, her face slightly flushed with anger at what Destiny had said.

Destiny listened carefully as she heard not one but two pairs of feet make their way down the hallway and into the living room. Hideo entered first and was followed by none other than Robert Deltoure, who was holding what appeared to be a takeaway latte in his right hand. Neither noticed her at first.

_Well, well, well, _she thought, her blue eyes narrowing, _if it isn't the man who thinks I should get a restraining order._

"Setsuko," Hideo greeted, moving forward and kissing his wife on the cheek.

"Mrs. Izinski," Robert Deltoure greeted, bowing his head.

"Robert," Setsuko responded icily, much to Destiny's pleasure, also inclining her head. The man in question appeared taken aback by the coldness of the violet-haired woman's voice.

"Setsuko?" Hideo asked, also surprised by his usually docile wife's harsh tone.

"Hideo," she turned to him and smiled sweetly, "we have a guest."

She indicated to where Destiny sat awkwardly on the couch, she gave a little wave and Hideo greeted her and Robert's jaw dropped.

"W-what are you doing here?" he choked on his latte, glaring accusingly at the girl who had very nearly assaulted his daughter.

"She's always welcome here," Hideo replied, giving Destiny a small smile which she returned.

"B-but _why_?" Robert asked, his mouth gaping somewhat akin to that of a fish, "you don't even _know _her and-and remember what she did to my daughter?"

"_Almost _did," Destiny corrected.

"_Quiet,_" the man hissed.

In a fit of childishness, Destiny glared and stuck out her tongue at him. "Make me."

"Why, you little–" he began to make his way towards her, but was blocked by the small, slender form of Setsuko.

"I don't think so," she said, her voice equally menacing, Destiny had not known that such a gentle, calm woman could sound so frightening, "Destiny was just telling me about what happened last night. What your daughter said to her."

"Oh really?" the man sneered, "and what exactly did Miss Fudo have to tell you to make you so defensive of her?"

Setsuko herself was resisting the urge to slap the man across the face. Was she honestly _friends _with him?

Hideo was just plain confused.

"You know exactly what Chania said to her. About her mother."

This piece of information, however, _definitely _caught Hideo's attention. He had seen (on TV) and had read about what had happened but had no idea that Akiza had been involved. He glanced curiously at both Setsuko, Robert and Destiny who all appeared to know what was happening.

"Of course I do," Robert replied, "and I for one completely agree with her."

This time Setsuko did slap him. Both Destiny and the still incredibly confused Hideo winced at the sound.

"What the hell?" Robert practically yelled.

"_My daughter," _Setsuko hissed at him. Robert looked confused for several seconds before he finally caught on to what Setsuko meant. He glanced at Destiny, then at Setsuko, then back to Destiny. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he made the connection.

"_Akiza?" _he exclaimed, _"Akiza _is Fudo's _mother_?"

"Got that right," Destiny muttered just loud enough for the other members of the room to hear. They took no notice, however.

"_You're _her grandparents?"

"Yes," Setsuko replied, placing her hands on her hips, "and until Destiny gets a formal and _meaningful_ apology from your daughter for what she said and what she _says_; get out of my house."

Everything went rather quickly after that, of course after everything had been explained to the completely lost Hideo, he had been raging for about twenty minutes straight. Robert had left and the three family members were gathered in the living room drinking tea, or in Destiny's case water as she was still sworn off caffeine.

After a while, Destiny glanced up at the clock and stood upright in surprise at how quickly the time had passed.

"Four forty-five!" she exclaimed loudly before turning to her grandparents, "I promised Dad that I'd be home by five!"

Hideo chuckled slightly. "You'd better not be late then."

"Yes," Setsuko agreed, "tardiness is unacceptable in a lady."

Destiny rolled her eyes – some lady she would make. Setsuko glanced at her.

"I also noticed last night that you're dress was soaked right through and that the hem was almost completely torn."

Destiny blushed at that.

_Damn._

"I was only going to wear it once!" she defended.

Setsuko chuckled along with her husband at this point before looking up at her untidy-looking granddaughter with her oil-stained, too-big hoodie and mussed up hair.

"With the way you're turning out, I might even have to send you to finishing school."

Destiny paled, "no, anything but that!"

Both her grandparents burst out laughing at the look of horror on her fair face. "We're just teasing you," Setsuko explained and Destiny calmed.

"Off with you now," Hideo told her, "you don't want to be late."

The dark-haired girl nodded and waved her goodbyes before heading out of the house, leaving the couple to clasp their hands and finish the rest of their tea.

Destiny may not had been the grandchild they had hoped for or expected, but she was certainly turning out to be one that they admired.

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, what do you think? My reviews are beginning to approach 250... YAY! Let's say that if the reviews get up to 250 we can say Bruno again? Sound okay? (sighs dreamily) 250 reviews...**

**Goldfish: At least I'm not going back in the closet.**

**EchoGirl: I'm beginning to wish I never took you out in the first place.**

**Goldfish: Oh, really?**

**EchoGirl: Yep.**

**Goldfish: Review!**


	26. The Mysterious Visitor

**EchoGirl: This is, once again I'm afraid to admit, a filler chapter but it is extremely important for the action that's coming up soon! So, yeah, it's not all that long but I'll have the next chapter up soon! Enjoy!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 25**

Damien Bryan sighed audibly as he entered his house. He'd had a busy day; there had been a lot going on at work and he had spent an interesting lunch break with his three female friends: Jenna Whitewood, Nadia Norma and Akiza Izinski – he didn't know whether or not to include Akiza's cousin, Lilith, as a friend or not, he had only really spoken to the woman once.

Akiza. She had been distant today, much like she had been before, constantly lost in thought. Unlike all the times before, however, Jenna seemed to be in on it.

He didn't pretend to understand Akiza, her mood swings and the way she distanced herself from the rest of society – she was like a puzzle, complicated. It was her complexity and… strangeness, even, that had attracted Damien towards the violet-haired woman in the first place.

He remembered when she had first arrived in Danson City. There'd been rumours about her; this depressed young girl who'd just appeared out of nowhere. Apparently, as it was later revealed, she had in fact been born in Danson City and was the niece of Hoshi and Kayla Izinski, Lilith's parents. She'd been living the past few fifteen years of her life in New Domino City. _That _had caused a bit of commotion, Hoshi was a rather popular man in Danson, he'd been the mayor at one point, and some of the residents remembered his younger brother, Hideo – now a senator in New Domino, a position he'd held for the past fifteen years – and his wife, Setsuko. Some even, Jenna amongst them, remembered their four-year-old daughter, Akiza.

It wasn't her background though that attracted him to her, it was the aura of sadness that she gave off. She wouldn't talk to anyone, besides her family and Jenna, an old childhood friend, and even for a while refused to eat. He, just like many others, had thought her to be mad, that her mind had snapped; the fact that she had constantly been muttering something about destiny and some other words that made no sense to him. Honestly, anyone who babbles about destiny _must _have something wired incorrectly.

But, with time, she had gotten better. The muttering and isolating was completely gone, yet the inexplicable sadness remained no matter what. And she had been so young, nineteen, barely an adult. He himself had been twenty-two at the time of her arrival and after almost fourteen years of having known her he could not help but fall for the strange, beautiful young woman with her enigmatic personality and endearing appearance: her short violet hair and long bangs, and those cat-like amber eyes. Not like she had ever noticed. The only thing that she seemed to actually _pay attention to _was the gossip that was currently surrounding that Fudo girl, the Future Queen of Riding Duels, Deli or Diane or whatever the hell it was that she was called.

And then there was their date. It hadn't ended _quite _the way that he had been hoping, with Akiza running off in tears and all. It wasn't him, was it, that had caused her to react the way she did? And she had said something when he'd kissed her and she'd begun to respond. It was just one word; a name, possibly? It was something beginning with a Y…

"Akiza," he muttered as he entered his living room, not bothering to turn his lights on, "what exactly is it about you that makes you so puzzling?"

A chuckle echoed from further inside the room. Damien was suddenly alert at the sound.

"Who's there?" he called into the shadows.

The chuckling continued. "Ah, yes," the voice spoke, it was quite clearly male, "Akiza; an old friend of mine."

"Who are you?" he called again, though he could make out the shadow of a figure sitting on his couch, "how did you get in here?"

"You do know that she'll never reciprocate your feelings, don't you?"

Damien tensed, afraid. How did this strange person that he was sure he'd never met before know such things?

"I asked you a question," he said, "who are you?"

The man's laughing started up once more, and Damien could just see the his shadowy figure standing up.

"Oh, come now, don't you want to know why?"

More afraid than ever, Damien raised his voice, "who are you? Show yourself!"

The man stepped forward, yet he still could not distinguish his features. All he could see was that he was tall, a few inches taller than Damien, with a rather strange hairstyle and was wearing a dark trench coat of sorts.

"Who I am," the man said slowly, "is of no consequence. Why I am here, however, is."

"And what are you here for?" Damien asked cautiously.

"I'm looking for someone; the object of your unrequited affections, to be precise."

"Akiza?" he asked in shock, he could just make out the man nodding his head slightly.

"Like I said, she's an old friend of mine. I want to find her, and _you _are going to tell me where she is."

"I don't trust you," Damien told the stranger firmly, though his voice shook, "and what makes you think I'd tell you? I have no idea who you are or what you'll do to her?"

"I'm not going to harm her if that's what you mean. I'm simply dropping by for a friendly chat. And, as to your earlier question, I have exactly what you want: the solution to the, shall we say _attitude, _of Akiza Izinski. She wasn't always the sad little girl she is now, you know."

"And if I don't tell you?"

"Let's just say that I have more, _extreme _methods of extracting the information I want from you," it was impossible to miss the pure maliciousness that laced the figures voice.

Damien stared at him for a moment, trying to decide whether this man was telling the truth or not, and also struggling with the looming possibility of being tortured, as somehow he was sure that that was what his mysterious visitor had meant. Finally his curiosity and desire to solve the mystery that was the woman he was in love with got the better of him.

"All right then," he decided at last, "you tell me about why Akiza's _attitude, _as you put it, is the way it is now and I'll tell you her whereabouts. Deal?"

"Deal," the shadowed figure responded before handing Damien a folded sheet of paper, "I can't say that you'll like it, though."

"Can't be that bad," the brown-haired man replied with a shrug and unfolded the paper. He read the heading and glanced back up at his visitor, eyebrows raised in disbelief. "But this is a birth certificate!"

The figure inclined his head. "Exactly. Keep reading."

Damien's eyes only got wider as his eyes moved down the page. "This is a birth certificate for _Destiny Fudo_?"

The figure once again merely nodded.

Damien was confused as he read down the page, it spoke of the girl's weight and birth and place and date of birth and such, yet he didn't understand how this was important, how it had anything to do with Akiza. Destiny Fudo's birth, or appearance should he say, had caused wild media speculation; the girl had had just popped out of nowhere after all with no warning or announcement. She had just appeared one day with the turbo duellist champion. The biggest, juiciest piece of gossip, however, had been about the girl's anonymous mother. No one had any idea who or where she was, whether she was dead or alive. But what exactly did her birth certificate have anything to do with what was currently happening.

"Keep going," the stranger urged as Damien scanned the page. Finally he reached the part that the public had been dying to know since day one. The parentage.

The father was obvious enough – Yusei Fudo, the page read. At first it had been widely speculated that the girl had been adopted but later, as she grew older, it became impossibly clear that Destiny was in fact the champion's daughter. The looks and duelling skill gave it all away.

Then finally he reached the part that everyone had been dying to know. The anonymous parent.

Mother, the page read, then, in neat calligraphy, _Akiza Izinski._

He read the page again.

_Akiza Izinski._

And again, yet the words written on the paper did not alter themselves.

_Akiza Izinski._

Stumbling over to one of the sofas, he sat down.

_Akiza Izinski, Akiza Izinski, Akiza Izinski._

It all began to fit into place now: Akiza sadness and depression upon arrival in Danson City; her unknown past life in New Domino City; the speculation over the birth of the seemingly motherless child, Destiny Fudo; Akiza's mutterings of the word 'destiny', she had not meant 'destiny' as in fate but rather 'Destiny' as in the person; and finally the kiss they had shared. She said a name beginning with a 'Y'. 'Y' for 'Yusei'.

His mind felt numb. He stared up at the approaching figure, the birth certificate hanging loosely in his grasp. The stranger took it from him and proceeded to tuck it into his breast pocket.

"I never said that it would be pretty."

Damien shook his head slowly. No, the truth hadn't been pretty.

"Now, I take it you'll uphold _your _end of the bargain?"

After a few moments of blinking, Damien numbly proceeded to tell this mysterious, all-knowing stranger the piece of information he'd originally come for.

* * *

It was late when Akiza finally made her way back to her shared apartment, a bag of groceries held in her arms. She would have the place to herself tonight, Jenna had gone out for some sort of all-nighter gangbang that Akiza herself couldn't be bothered going to. She would relish the peace and quiet.

Shifting the groceries she was holding into only one arm, she dug into her pocket for her key as she approached the apartment door; only to find it open.

Intrigued, and slightly disturbed, she pushed the door fully open and stepped inside, flicking on the lights. She gasped at the sight that befell her.

An all too familiar head of elegantly groomed dark red head was visible by the sofa. Her heart fluttered wildly like a caged bird in her chest as that head slowly turned around to greet her with an all too familiar face.

Chocolate brown eyes met jade green and for several moments' silence reigned supreme.

With a loud thud the bag of groceries fell from Akiza's grasp as she stared at the stranger in her living room.

"_Sayer?_"

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

******EchoGirl: ! Cliff-hanger! And yes, I know I said Bruno would be coming soon and I can _assure _all you Bruno-lovers out there that you _will _see him in the next chapter, so, no worries!**

**Goldfish: You're alive. That's definitely something for people to be worried about.**

**EchoGirl: You're so mean to me, you know that? I mean, if it wasn't for me you would be dead right now I bet that no one else on the planet would have the physical, mental _and _psychological endurance to put up with you! Do you know what living with you has done to my mental state?**

**Goldfish: You had the mental state of a broken washing machine even before I had anything to do with your life.**

**EchoGirl: Shut up!**

**Goldfish: It's the truth.**

**EchoGirl: (sighs) Review.**

**Goldfish: Yes, review.**


	27. Arcadia's New Target

**EchoGirl: Well, here's chapter 26: it's basically just a continuation of the Sayer(Divine)/Aki(za) scene that I started on in the last chapter and also we finally see Bruno! Yay! I'm not quite sure if I nailed his character, though... he's not the easiest to write about.**

**Goldfish: Mm. You were taking ages on this chapter, even though it's short!**

**EchoGirl: It must be perfect! And this is a really important chapter considering the entire plotline and all...**

**Goldfish: I know, but gee, OCD much?**

**EchoGirl: Just do the disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: Whatever you say, Echo. EchoGirl319 does not, I repeat _does not_, own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 26**

_**Previously…**_

_An all too familiar head of dark red hair was visible by the sofa. Her heart fluttered wildly like a caged bird in her chest as that head slowly to around to greet her with an all too familiar face._

_Chocolate brown eyes met jade green and for several moments' silence reigned supreme._

_With a loud thud the bag of groceries fell from Akiza's grasp as she stared at the stranger in her living room._

**_"Sayer?"_**

* * *

"Sayer?" she gasped again as the man stood up and began to walk towards her. She stumbled backwards as he approached.

"H-how are you alive?" she asked, stuttering, her eyes filled with confusion and fear, "I _saw_ you die. I saw that Earthbound Immortal _eat_ you."

"Ah, yes," Sayer sighed, speaking for the first time since she had entered her apartment, "Ccarayhua. Not an experience that I wish to divulge. Besides, you _saw _me 'die' once before and I didn't truly die. How I am here is of no matter," he reached out with a gloved hand to stroke the violet-haired woman's cheek, "only that I am here."

Akiza recoiled from his touch and backed into the closed door. This was too much for her – her first sight of her daughter in almost thirteen years and now the appearance of her old mentor who she had thought dead for over fifteen years.

"But how? _Why_?"

"Like I said, Akiza, it is of no matter."

"But why _now_?" she persisted, "why after sixteen years? Why suddenly just pop back into my life now? Why can't you just…" she looked away from him at this point, ashamed as she remembered all the times she'd longed for him yet now she just wanted him gone, "…leave me alone?"

She felt her jaw being grabbed roughly as her face was forced upwards. Her confused and fearful brown eyes met Sayer's hard green ones. There was no joy or happiness in her amber orbs.

"You are not happy to see me," he stated.

Akiza didn't reply, her jaw was still being held tightly in his grip. He pushed back one of her bangs and tilted her head slightly to the right.

"In fact," he continued, "you feel the exact opposite. You wish I was still dead."

Still no response, though her eyes had begun to grow slightly watery.

"What do you want with me?" she whispered, her voice hardly audible.

"Simple," he replied, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "you're mine, Akiza. You sold your soul to me the day you donned your mask. I was the only one who accepted you for who you were. You belong to me, Akiza, and the Movement."

"The Arcadia Movement?" she gasped, struggling to free his grip on her face.

He nodded and only held her jaw tighter, digging his fingers into the soft flesh and feeling the bone beneath. "Yes. Take your place amongst your fellow peers, society outcasts, people like you."

Not bothering to respond to his insult, she instead started struggling again. It was, however, in vain; her was to strong for her and her duel disk was in the bedroom.

"My _peers_," she spat, "more like your little army, people who you brainwashed into following you for your own selfish gains. I've learnt my lesson, Sayer. I'm not your pawn anymore."

"Really?" Sayer asked, "last I looked, a person couldn't change who they are, Akiza, and I know _exactly_ who you are: a dangerous, misunderstood, unstable little defect; my precious Black Rose."

With a newfound strength, she pushed him away from her and darted round so as she was no longer pressed against the wall. She shook her head wildly in defiance and denial.

"No! I'm not the Black Rose anymore! The Black Rose hurt and killed people! That's not me, not anymore! She was a witch, a monster! I'm not!"

"Really?" Sayer responded as he turned to face her, a smirk playing on his face. "I thought that was the reason you left Domino in the first place?"

Immediately, Akiza froze.

"How do you know about that?" she asked slowly, more afraid than ever. What exactly did Sayer know?

"Honestly, Akiza," the older man chuckled, "what do you take me for? Of course I know about your little fling with Fudo and what it resulted in and, I have to say, I thought better of you than that."

"It wasn't a fling!" was all Akiza could say in her defence before Sayer grasped her face once again, with both hands this time. Once again, he forced her to look at him.

"Look at you now, Akiza," he murmured, his thumbs brushing her cheeks, "you've gone soft. You were once great; my favourite student." Roughly, he grabbed her short violet hair and pulled her head painfully back so that he could stare directly into her frightened, yet defiant, catlike brown eyes. "He's tainted you."

"He _saved_ me," she corrected as he released her. "I was just a pawn in your games of power, I meant _nothing_ to you, the only thing about me that was important to you were my powers. And it is only now that I truly see that. He saved me from _you_."

Akiza hadn't known what to expect, and for a moment she was almost positive that he would slap her, but instead he did nothing asides step away from her.

"Very well," he replied, taking a hat out of his pocket and setting it upon his head, pulling it down low so as the top half of his face was shadowed. "It is of no matter whether you join me or not. I have a new target now."

At once she knew to whom he was referring.

"The Witch of Dark Destiny?" she asked remembering the pictures in the paper and the memory of a dream: the young girl sobbing into her embrace, desperately holding onto her even as she had begun to vanish.

Sayer merely nodded and she was filled with a sudden dread and horror.

"But she's just a child!"

"You were little more when I first took you in."

He had a point, even though this girl was younger than she had been.

"What will you do to her?" she asked unsteadily, both her heartbeat and breathing irregular as horrible images flooded through her mind.

"Why do you ask?" the man questioned, cocking his head slightly to one side.

"Because I know that you're not above killing!" Akiza cried, "and especially not above killing children," she adding, remembering Misty's little brother and how he had almost killed Leo while testing him.

"Oh, she'll die eventually," Sayer confirmed her worst fears and she visibly flinched at the thought of that girl, who could barely be over the age of fourteen, lying dead on the floor of the Arcadia Movement Building's duelling arena. "But not 'til I'm finished with her."

"Why?" was all she could choke out.

"She's very powerful; her abilities are on par with yours, perhaps even surpassing them. As for killing her, well, let's just say that I have more motives than just using her powers. Truth be told, I'm surprised you haven't worked it out yet."

"Worked what out?" Akiza asked, but he was already making his way out, closing the door behind him.

Stumbling over to the sofa, Akiza sat down and put her head in her hands. This was all too much.

_Please tell me that this is all just a dream._

* * *

_**New Domino City**_

"UNCLE BRUNO!" Destiny exclaimed, rushing down the stairs and launching herself into the arms of the unprepared and surprised blue-haired man standing in the garage by the tester runner.

Taken completely off guard, he was knocked to the ground as the dark-haired duellist leapt at him.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" she said happily, burying her face in his chest from their awkward position on the floor.

"It's nice to see you too, Destiny," Bruno laughed, patting the girl's head as he struggled for breath. "Can't… breath…"

At once, Destiny shot off of him and stood up, blushing wildly, before offering a hand and pulling him to his feet.

"Hey, you've gotten taller," the bluenette commented, ruffling her hair before glancing around the empty garage. "Are the others here?"

"I dunno," Destiny replied with a shrug before picking up her bag which she had dropped in her excitement, "I just got back from the academy. Jake, Chris, Mark and Ness all went to their own places. Is Dad here?"

Bruno shook his head, "he just went out to get something, but really I think that he just left me here on purpose just so that I would be full-on tackled."

Destiny smiled, still blushing slightly, "yeah, sorry about that."

"Anyways," Bruno continued, "how are you? I heard that you had a bit of a run in with that Deltoure girl that you despise so much."

"Yeah, it was nothing, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yup. Sherry was at the WRGP," Destiny told him, changing the subject away from Chania.

"Really?" Bruno asked almost excitedly. "Did you talk to her?"

"A little," she replied, thinking back on her short conversation with the lovely blonde. "She asked after you."

"She did?"

"Mm-hm. I told her you'd be back today, so, you never know, she might pay you a visit."

"That would be nice…" Bruno murmured, smiling. Destiny rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna go get changed before Dad gets back," she told him before asking, "can I help work on the duel runner later?"

"Sure," Bruno replied, his thoughts no doubt still lingering on the golden-haired female turbo duellist.

"Awesome," Destiny responded, giving him a thumbs-up before racing upstairs.

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, any good? I quite enjoyed writing this chapter. Now we finally have an idea about Sayer/Divine's motives and it is not looking good for Destiny...**

**Goldfish: No, not really. Especially considering the fact that Sayer/Divine's like an evil genius. A trait that he and I share.**

**EchoGirl: Can't you get over yourself for just a second?**

**Goldfish: No, Echo. I really can't.**

**EchoGirl: Fine, whatever. Review please!**

**Goldfish: Yes, do that! We're approaching 300!**

**EchoGirl: 300? (does a happy dance)**

**Goldfish: I have no idea how I put up with this.**

**Cat: Mrrow.**

**Goldfish: AH! (screams like a girl)**

**EchoGirl: (laughing) Ah, hilarious. Like I said, please review!  
**


	28. Escape Heitmann

**EchoGirl: Hm. Not a particularly long chapter but, oh well. This is at Duel Academy and it's mostly just banter between Destiny, Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa. I was beginning to miss some of the humour that comes up when they're all together and, well, with all the drama going on... I thought this might make a decent tension reliever. I'll get back on track in the next chapter though!**

**Goldfish: That you will.**

**EchoGirl: I will!**

**Goldfish: I know.**

**EchoGirl: I WILL!**

**Goldfish: I got it already!**

**EchoGirl: Good. Ah-hem. Disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: (sighs)EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 27**

"Red Destiny Dragon!" Destiny announced raising one arm high above her head and pointing at the ceiling before lowering to point at her opponent, "finish this! Direct attack! Divine Flare!"

Her lips curled as her dragon gathered its power – a ball of glittering red, gold and silver energy – in its mouth and launched in a stream of flames across the arena. She heard the grunt upon impact of her opponent's life points dropping to zero.

"Aw, man," Chris complained as the smoke cleared and he deactivated his duel disk, "how come I keep losing to you?"

"I dunno," Destiny replied, grinning as she also deactivated her duel disk. She glanced over at the instructor and the rest of the class who wear standing by the sidelines their eyes wide at having seen Red Destiny in action.

"Very impressive, Destiny," the instructor, a woman, complimented, "and, Chris, you put up an impressive fight. An excellent example of duelling at what could definitely pass for pro standards."

"Meh," muttered Jake from the sidelines, waving his hand in a dismissive manner, "I could've topped that no problem."

"Dude, shut up," Chris responded irritably, elbowing his blond companion in the stomach. Jake didn't so much as flinch.

The instructor didn't appear to have heard the two boys' bantering and instead turned to the rest of the class as Chris and Destiny joined the main group.

"Were the rest of you all watching Chris and Destiny's demonstration? I hope that you've taken a good look and the strategies they've used so as you can improve your own duelling techniques," the instructor addressed them and the academy students nodded enthusiastically. "All right, free-period; class dismissed."

Eagerly the students bustled their way out of the arena, leaving only Destiny, Jake, Chris and Mark alone with the instructor in the massive, empty arena.

"Excellent work today, you four," she complimented the incomplete group before exiting just as Vanessa burst in and strode over to her four friends. She looked enviously around the arena.

"You guys were _duelling_?" she huffed, "man, you guys are lucky. I had a lesson with Heitmann."

Mark winced, "I feel sorry for you, Ness," he sympathised, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder. None of the gang were fond of Vice Principle Rudolph Heitmann and his impossible preference for the more powerful monsters, a trait which irritated Destiny like none other – it didn't matter whether a card was powerful or not, but the importance that it held to its owner; why couldn't that man, who, if Destiny could say so herself, with a moustache that disturbing resembled a shrimps whiskers, see that? Apparently, he'd been a lot worse when Luna and Leo had attended in the first year but her father had knocked some sense into him. Some.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Chris asked, absently scratching his neck.

"Dunno," Mark replied to his twins question. He glanced at the others.

"Hopefully nowhere that we'll run into Chania," Destiny told them, to which the others, particularly Jake, instantly agreed with, "she's been giving me the stink-eye ever since she found out about me being related to the Izinskis."

"Do you think that she's actually going to apologise to you?" Vanessa asked, though she already knew the answer.

Destiny shook her head, "nah, it would bruise that massive ego of hers."

"Well," Mark said positively, "it's not like she's been bothering us lately or anything."

"Yeah," Vanessa pointed out, "that's a good thing."

"Any idea why?" Jake asked Destiny, who bit her lip in response.

"I think it had something to do with the fact that her dad was gonna be getting some sort of promotion through Hideo, but now that he's in Hideo's bad books he's not getting it until Chania apologises to me for everything she's said. Especially if it involves mom."

"That seems unlikely," Jake muttered.

"Hm," Destiny agreed before stating philosophically, "pride is a double sided blade: it can be your greatest asset; yet at the same time your greatest weakness." **(AN: Woo! Oxymoron! Ah-hem… that was awkward…)**

Jake snorted contemptuously, "what ancient textbook did you dig that up from?"

"Hey!" Destiny exclaimed angrily, whacking Jake on the arm.

"It makes sense," Vanessa agreed.

"Besides," Destiny defended, "it's much better than the cheesy, and really bad, pick-up lines that Chris'll be using in a few years time."

"_What?_" Chris outraged voice filled the empty arena.

"Oh, come on, Chris," Destiny giggled, "it's not that hard to see that in about two or so years time you'll be one of those really perverted teenage guys that attempts to hook up with everything in a twenty metre radius that has breasts. You know, the type that'll try to peek under girls' skirts."

"What the hell, Destiny?" Chris spluttered.

Vanessa and Jake snickered, Mark just looked even paler than usual.

"I can so picture that happening," Vanessa giggled.

"It's true," Jake told him simply, "maybe not yet, but you will be."

"Oh, just fabulous," Mark muttered, "there go my chances of ever getting a girlfriend down the drain."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Chris demanded irritably. He wasn't use everyone joking at his expense, and it was a sensation that he didn't like. _He _was the prankster of the group, after all.

"It _means,_" Mark replied, "that'll I'll never be able to hook up with _any _girl, whether we both know her or not, because I'm your _identical _twin brother and if they know you they'll think that I'm _you_ and refuse to even speak to me without bitch slapping me first and if you _don't _know them then you're bound to meet them eventually and they'll think that you're _me _and you'll act all perverted and I'll be bitch slapped all the same." He brought his hand up to his cheek and rubbed it gently, "I feel sorry for my poor face already."

Desperate to pass the teasing onto someone else, an idea popped into Chris's head.

"Well," he began, "if I'll be interested in _every _girl, then Jake'll be interested in absolutely none. He'll be like a brick in a sea of fangirls. Good thing you've got Destiny to keep you afloat," he winked, "eh, Jakey?"

He only just missed being tackled by the said blond. Destiny face flushed a furious red and immediately she attempted to change the subject.

"I'm going out as the Witch of Dark Destiny tomorrow," she blurted out after checking that there was no one within hearing distance.

"I thought you were taking a break from that?" Mark asked.

"I did," the dark-haired duellist replied.

"Three days is hardly a break," Vanessa told her.

"Three days is so a break. Besides, it's a Saturday and I'm not gonna be free for a while, with the WRGP starting and all. That'll be my big break. And the media will no doubt want an update on her. Plus, I've got a feeling that something important will happen soon."

"Have you ever considered that this might be a 'bad' feeling and not a good one?" Vanessa asked doubtfully.

"I don't know," Destiny admitted, "but either way, it'll help be unravel the mystery of my mother's past. The reason she left."

"Are you sure you're not looking too much into this?" Chris asked at the same time as Jake rhetorically asked, "OCD much?"

"Just be careful," Vanessa told her.

Destiny nodded, "don't worry. I will be."

There was a moments pause before Mark restarted the conversation.

"So, Ness," he began, the said redhead looked up at him expectantly, "what do you have next?"

"I'm free for the rest of the afternoon," Vanessa replied, her eyes widening slightly as she realised what the silver-haired youth was getting at.

"And we have Heitmann next," Mark said slowly, glancing at his three classmates.

A groan was emitted from the three others. A class with Heitmann for the entire afternoon was the last thing they wanted. Suddenly a grin broke out across Chris's face as he caught on.

"You little rat!" he laughed, batting at his brother, "you think we should skive!"

"Yeah, and? What do you guys think?"

"Anything's better than Heitmann," Destiny stated. Besides, all the good stuff was over for the day. Not to mention that she shared that class with Chania.

"Yeah," Jake agreed, "I don't think I can stand another minute of shrimp-moustache."

"Hell, yeah!" Chris whooped, punching the air with his fist.

"Well, I've got free period so basically I'll just be skiving skiving… but what's the difference?" Vanessa asked as she too agreed to Mark's suggestion.

Cautiously, the five of them headed out. As soon as they were by the gates and just about to leave school property, a female voice called from behind them.

"And where do you think you're going?"

The group spun around to come face-to-face with none other than Luna.

"Aunt Luna!" Destiny exclaimed, one hand resting on her heart to ease the fright she had gotten.

"Who else?" the turquoise-haired woman laughed.

"Chania Deltoure?" Vanessa suggested, "Vice Principle Heitmann?"

Luna raised an eyebrow at them and spoke to the elder four of the group, "are you lot skipping your class with Heitmann?"

"Uh, yeah," Destiny replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck.

The older woman nodded in understanding, she'd wanted to do the same when she was younger, after all.

"You'd better scoot then, before he catches you."

"So you're not going to rat us out, then?" Chris asked hopefully.

Luna shook her head. "I would've done the exact same thing were I in your position."

"You're the best Aunt Luna," Vanessa told her before Jake signalled for them to skedaddle just as none other than Heitmann himself came into view.

"You'd better get going if you don't want to spend the next three weeks in detention," Luna urged them.

Grinning, Destiny gave her a two-fingered salute before taking off after the others.

_I wonder where we'll go now, _she considered as they abandoned school grounds and re-entered New Domino City. _Anything's better than a class with Heitmann, after all._

* * *

**EchoGirl: Heh, Chris is the target of their jokes now! Anyway, I should have the next (back on track) chapter up so but meanwhile, tell me what you think of this one.**

**Goldfish: Yep. Reviews make her happy. I can't decide whether that's a good or a bad thing...**

**EchoGirl: Just say 'review' already!**

**Goldfish: FINE! Review.**

**EchoGirl: ...**

**Goldfish: ...Please...?**

**EchoGirl: That's better.**


	29. Stranger Danger

**EchoGirl: Well, here I am, back with chapter 28. It's not particularly long but it _is_ the bit that you've all been waiting for and I assure you that the next chapter will be longer! Oh, well, don't want to keep you waiting so hit it, Goldie!**

**Goldfish: Don't call me that! EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 28**

Destiny smirked beneath the mask as she heard the screams of street duellists and passers-by alike as the ground rumbled above her, ripping open as she emerged, making her grand entrance. Glittering frames surrounded her as she rose up, Red Destiny under its guise of Dark Destiny shrieking as it rose up into the air, flexing its inky black-spiralled wings.

Through the mask, she glanced around her surroundings, taking in the dull, concrete scenery and the faces filled with a strange mixture of terror and awe, staring up at the sky as magnificent dragon took flight. She let out an otherworldly cackle to add effect.

_Jeez,_ she thought inwardly, _I must sound like a complete psychopath._

Having already made three appearances in different areas of the city that day, and having taken out five different duelling goons, she had decided that this was the last stop. She had promised the rest of the gang that she would meet them in the nearby alley – their rendezvous point – in under twenty minutes. They wouldn't be particularly pleased if she were late.

She scanned the crowd for a few moments, flinching momentarily as one of the camera flashes caught her in the eye. There didn't appear to be any shady characters around here, one's that would cause trouble for the other duellists (thieves, double-dealers, launderers, etc.). She would never hurt the innocents, after all – no one was except those who really deserved it was going to get hurt on her quest.

The strange thing, though, was that the public seemed to have noticed this. That she wasn't like the Black Rose who had just hurt anyone, she seemed to actually select targets in the crowd; the troublemakers that people actually _wanted _gone, and boy did she teach them a lesson.

She was still a witch, and for that she would still be discriminated, but maybe, just maybe, she was a _good _witch; despite the malicious name.

_If only they knew, _she chuckled. Yes, if only they knew that the Witch of Dark Destiny was actually their beloved future duel queen. _That _little piece of information would definitely knock them off their feet; not to mention that she was the daughter of the feared and dreaded Black Rose.

_There are so many things about me that people don't know._

After double-checking and confirming that there were, in fact, no unsavoury characters around she permitted her dragon to show off a little and flaunt its abilities before the two of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving only ash sprinkled with stardust behind.

The spectators were dumbstruck and could only blink in surprise, the witch had only revealed herself for less than five minutes, after all.

Yet, what Destiny had failed to notice was that there _was _in fact a shady figure hanging around, hidden in the shadows away from the street duels, waiting for her to reveal herself and leave again; watching her entire performance.

_Impressive._

Unfortunately for her, though, he was all too used to the disappearing tricks that she was playing and knew exactly where she was headed. It was the exact same alley that her predecessor had always run to, after all.

With a small, almost demonic smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth, the mysterious figure let loose a silent chuckle and headed in the direction of the spot that he knew the witch would soon arrive at.

* * *

Destiny exhaled loudly as she reappeared at the alley she would be meeting Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa at. Everything was silent apart from her own breathing, too loud to her own ears as the sound bounced off the mask, which she hadn't yet bothered to remove.

_So much for punctuality, _she thought irritably, crossing her arms over her chest, _no one's here yet._

Just as she began to reach up to remove the mask, she noticed the outline of another figure in the originally abandoned alleyway. At once her senses were on high alert.

"Hello?" she called into the darkness, raising the arm that held her duel disk slightly into an offensive position. "who's there?"

The figure merely chuckled in a low and, if anything, dangerous tone, only putting the young duellist even less at ease. Something wasn't right.

"So you're the Witch of Dark Destiny," the man, for the voice was definitely male, stated the obvious.

"You just worked that out?" she snapped back sarcastically, her voice efficiently disguising her terror, masking it with irritation, "what do you want?"

"My, my," the man tutted, still not moving forward from the darkness, "such a sharp tongue for one as young as you. She was right though, you _are _little more than a child."

"What of it?" she asked, though by now she was beginning to tremble she still refused to let her fear show, "and who's this 'she' that you're talking about?"

"So many questions," came the response, "I'm afraid I can't answer them all here."

Having a feeling about what he was getting at, and not liking it one bit, Destiny slowly brought her right hand to her duel disk, resting her middle and index finger on the top card of her deck. "What do you mean?"

"Let's go somewhere that we can talk more… openly, shall we?"

Immediately, Destiny shook her cloaked head. "Nu-uh, no way. Talking with you in an alley is freaky and dodgy enough. I'm not going _anywhere _with you. Street safety rule 101: stranger danger, _hello_. If you don't mind, I'm gonna leave now."

As she moved to depart, something incredibly unexpected happened: a ring of flames appeared around her, blocking off all chances of escape unless she wanted to be scorched. The figure stepped forwards and, for the first time, Destiny caught a (sort of) glimpse of his face. She didn't see much, just that he was wearing a hair that covered most of his face and long trench coat; she could also make out some dark red, almost brown, hair peeking out from beneath it.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed, leaping backwards from the flames which were already beginning to lick at her.

The figure chuckled darkly once more. "You're not the only one with psychic abilities, my dear."

"I'm not your 'dear'!" she hissed at him, "and whether you have psychic powers or not means nothing to me. Let me go!"

She drew the card that she had been touching and glanced at it. White Magician of Fate.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," the psychic replied, tossing something into the flames and standing back. "And your attitude is beginning to grate on my nerves."

Before she could give a snappy response, she saw what the man had thrown into the now rapidly extinguishing flames. It was a tiny bottle, which had smashed on impact with the cobbled ground, and a liquid/gas was now rapidly leaking out of it, heading towards her. She began to feel light-headed and dizzy as she involuntarily breathed it in.

She was rapidly losing consciousness.

_Chloroform! _She realised as she fell to the ground, fighting desperately to stay awake.

She blinked continually as she struggled with effects of the chloroform. The strange man knelt down beside her and removed her mask. She squinted at him through her rapidly blurring and dark-spotted vision but could only make out a pair of fuzzy green eyes.

"Destiny Fudo," the man murmured, touching her face, she tried, unsuccessfully to glare at him, "just as I suspected."

"Chloroform," she struggled to get the words out, "that was the dirtiest trick in the book."

"Dirty it may be," the man replied, smirking, as her eyes finally closed, "but it's one of the best."

_White Magician, _Destiny's mind echoed as she lost the fight for consciousness and felt the stranger lifting her up, _show the others what's happened to me._

The card fell from her grip as she fell into darkness and landed silently on the dirty alley floor as she was taken away.

_I will, mistress, _the spirit's female voice answered as it lay, waiting for the rest of the gang to find it.

* * *

**EchoGirl: DUNDUNDUUUUUUUUUUN! Suspense! Anyways, tell me what you think and I'll have the next chapter up soon. Everyone who reviews, good on you! Everyone, who doesn't... well... you're just letting the goldfish get one step closer to his lifelong dream of ruling the world...**

**Goldfish: Mwahahaha! Support the anarchy! Down with the humans!**

**EchoGirl: So please, please, _please _review unless you want to live in a world ruled by a 4-inch long yellow fish!**

**Goldfish: I'm _GOLD _DAMMIT!**

**EchoGirl: And...?**

**Goldfish: You said yellow!**

**EchoGirl: And...?**


	30. Kidnapped

**EchoGirl: I'm back! This update took a little longer than usual, but enjoy!**

**Goldfish: Do that.**

**EchoGirl: Disclaimer? Hello?**

**Goldfish: You do it.**

**EchoGirl: But that's your job!**

**Goldfish: Fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 29**

"Hey," Mark began as he and the rest of the gang stood in the completely empty alleyway, "where's Destiny?"

"Yeah, man," Chris added, "isn't she suppose to be here?"

"She's always on time," Vanessa said, deep in thought, "so why not now?"

"Shut it," Jake growled, earning a glance from the others. He masked his concern with irritation; his pride wouldn't allow him to reveal to them that he was, in fact, incredibly worried.

Where _was _she? Vanessa was right, Destiny was always punctual and this had always been their rendezvous point. So why wasn't she here?

Had something happened? No. He shook his head rapidly. He couldn't think like that. She was all right, perfectly fine, just running a little late.

A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

_Probably kicking some guy's butt._

"She's probably–" he began, but was interrupted by a very baffled looking Chris.

"It smells weird here."

"What?" he asked, the older boy's statement taking him by surprise, until he finally regained his senses and snapped, "it's an _alley, _Chris, of course it smells weird."

But Chris just shook his head, his pale blue eyes betraying his fear.

"It's not that. It smells like…" he paused, sniffing at the air, "…smoke."

"I smell it too!" Vanessa exclaimed, "it's weird. There's no trace of a fire anywhere."

"Me too," Mark announced, taking another whiff at the air, "but you're right, Ness. There's nothing here saying that there's been a fire."

Cautiously, Jake also inhaled the stale alley air and, just like the others, he too could just make out the putrid scent of smoke. Despite it's faintness, it still stung his eyes.

"What the…" he muttered, glancing around, only to realise that, once again, the others were, in fact, correct. There was no trace of fire anywhere, and no way that a fire could have started; at least not on the ground.

"Hey, guys!" Mark yelled from a couple of yards further into the alley, "come take a look at this!"

Cautiously, the three others began to walk forward to where the younger Kessler twin was squatting, staring intently at an object on the ground.

"What is it?" asked Chris, crouching down beside his brother. Jake and Vanessa soon followed suite and all eyes turned on the object Mark was pointing at.

"That," the silver-haired boy said simply.

There, lying abandoned on the ground was a small bottle, about the size of Jake's fist. The glass was blue and cracked, the side that was pressed against the cold ground was completely smashed, a liquid was spilled on the ground beside it.

Very carefully, Chris stretched out with one hand and quickly touched the liquid, immediately drawing his hand back so as only one droplet of the unknown substance rested on the tip of his index finger. Slowly, he brought the finger up to his nose and inhaled before immediately wiping his finger on his jeans.

He turned back to the others, all three pairs of eyes stared intently at him, their gazes questioning.

He gulped before replying to their unspoken question, demand even, and when he finally did open his mouth his voice did nothing to disguise his distress.

"Chloroform."

To say that this answer shocked them was an understatement. Chloroform? Jake's worrying struck an all time high, and he sent a mental wish to the Crimson Dragon that he wouldn't start hyperventilating. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but chuckle however at the way his friend had identified the possibly fatal anaesthetic so quickly.

_The guy's a criminal mastermind, _he decided.

"Do you think that this was… used on Destiny?" he could barely bring himself to say the words, "to… subdue her?"

"I don't know," Chris replied with a shake of his head. In that moment Jake felt himself get angry, angrier than he'd ever been before. Chris knew everything when it came to these thing and now, now how couldn't he not know? This was _Destiny, _for god's sake! How could he not know?

"What do you mean you don't know!" he practically yelled, making both Chris and Mark flinch.

"I'm sorry," Chris murmured, "I don't know what happened to her… I have no idea…"

The hotheaded young blond's anger vanished as soon as it had manifested when he heard the utter _helplessness _in his friend's eyes.

"I'm sorry too," he murmured, almost inaudibly. Were it not for the thousands of emotions passing through him right now he would have smirked at the look of shocked disbelief on Chris's face. It wasn't often you got an apology out of Jake Atlas, after all.

"Guys," the three boys spun around at the panicked sound of Vanessa's voice. She was holding something in her hand, clenched between her thumb and index finger, something rectangular and thin; something that looked suspiciously like a duel monsters card.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"It looks like Destiny was here after all," the young redhead breathed, turning the card round to face them, their breaths all caught in their throats, "and I think she wanted us to find this."

In Vanessa's hand was White Magician of Fate, one of Destiny's favourite cards, second only to Red Destiny Dragon.

"It was just lying on the ground?" Chris asked in disbelief after a few moments, effectively breaking the silence.

Vanessa nodded.

"She never just leave it there!" Jake exclaimed, "Destiny's cards mean everything to her, and White Magician is one of her personal favourites!"

"I don't think she _just left it here,_" Vanessa told them, turning the card back around so as she could look at it, stare into the eyes of the beautiful white-clad girl that stared back at her with pleading silver eyes… wait a second! Pleading? Since when had a duel monsters card ever _pleaded _with someone… unless…

"I think she left it on purpose. She wanted us to find it. She's a psychic," she explained, to which the others nodded, "and she's always talking to her cards' spirits, saying that she can see and hear them. Maybe White Magician knows what happened to her, and she left her here to tell us where she is!"

It made perfect sense, the others realised, after all, Destiny's cards were the only witnesses of what had happened to her, so obviously they would be able to tell them where she was. There was just one problem.

"None of us can speak to duel monster spirits," Jake announced what everyone had been thinking.

"No," Mark said slowly, "but we _do _know someone who can."

"Auntie Luna!" Vanessa exclaimed, catching on first.

"Yes," Chris said, "her and Uncle Leo's mansion isn't far from here."

* * *

_**Tops, the twins' mansion…**_

"What is it?" Luna asked in surprise as the four youths rushed inside.

"We need your help!" Vanessa yelled.

"Yeah!" Chris added.

"What is it?" the turquoise-haired woman asked, completely confused.

"Destiny's in trouble!" Jake announced.

"What?" Luna asked, "did she skip detention last week and you need me to cover for her or what? Can't she ask me herself?"

Vanessa shook her head in exasperation, "not _that _kind of trouble! Trouble as in_ her-life-is-at-stake _trouble! Literally!"

"She's gone missing," Mark explained, slightly calmer than flame haired girl, "we think she might have been kidnapped."

"What?" Luna asked, immediately springing up from her place on the sofa, "_kidnapped_?"

Jake nodded, "we were suppose to meet her in an alley after she finished some Witch of Dark Destiny stuff. We arrived, she wasn't there, only the smell of smoke and an empty bottle of chloroform."

"Chloroform?" Luna gasped, all thoughts that this was just a joke vanishing, merging into one single though.

_Destiny. Is. In. Danger._

"She did leave one clue, though," Chris told her, "and we were hoping you can help with that?"

Numbly, the woman nodded. "What is it?"

Vanessa stepped forward and held out a card. Slowly reaching out and taking it, Luna flipped it over to reveal none other than one of Destiny's precious Magicians of Fate. White Magician of Fate, to be precise.

"We think she might know where Destiny is?" Jake explained, but Luna didn't hear him, all she was aware of was the beautiful female magician materialising beside her.

"Luna."

The four friends watched in a rather horrified sort of awe as their beloved Aunt Luna's face got paler and paler. She was speaking with White Magician, and it wasn't looking good.

Finally, she turned back to them, looking liked she'd seen a ghost.

"How is it possible?" she whispered, falling onto the sofa as her knees gave out beneath her.

"Aunt Luna?" Vanessa asked, concerned.

"Where's Destiny?" Jake demanded at the same time.

Slowly, the teal-haired woman dragged her eyes upward to meet his, there was nothing else that she could do, she was immobilised with shock.

Her voice was quiet and hoarse when she began to speak, barely above a whisper.

"Sayer's… alive. He's got… Destiny… at the Arcadia Movement… headquarters…"

* * *

_**Arcadia Movement HQ…**_

Destiny moaned softly as she began to come to. Everything was so bright, making the insides of her eyelids a strange red colour. She didn't like it.

She was also pressed against something. Was she… standing up? Unconscious and standing up? No… she was slumped against something that felt similar to a ladder, rigs and all; bars? She shifted slightly and at once felt the numbness in her arms. They were above head, joined at the wrists.

That was it! She was chained to something, no doubt one of the bars, above her head which forced her into a standing position (sort of) slouched against the bars, all her weight hanging on her bloodless, numb arms. But why?

Slowly the memories flooded back to her. She had been under the guise of her alias, the Witch of Dark Destiny, and had been at the rendezvous point waiting for the rest of the gang when that weirdo had come out and started talking to her. Then came the very blurry memories of the chloroform and her unconsciously leaving White Magician behind for Jake and the others to find. She hoped her treasured duel monster was all right… had the others found her yet?

At that moment she felt a warm breath exhale against her cheek and her sapphire blue eyes shot open to come face-to-face with a pair of green ones.

She blinked, a man was bending down in front of her – too close for comfort – he had dark red hair, almost brown, and his eyes stared at her with such a strange mix of emotions, anticipation and twisted desire – for what, she did not know – but also with a deep loathing and disgust.

It was then that she recognised him to be the man from the alleyway. She hadn't seen the man's face, hadn't even gotten a good look at the rest of him, but there had been something about him that gave her a bad feeling, he had a dark, foreboding aura about him, the same aura that now seeped out of this man.

So she decided to do the one thing that any young woman would do if she was in incredibly close proximity – too close, he was invading her personal bubble – with the man who had knocked you out with chemicals, dragged you back to his hideout and chained you up against some strange bars in what appeared to be a duelling arena.

She screamed at a pitch and volume that only an adolescent female could reach, completely taking the man by surprise, and lashing out with one foot at the area the shocked stranger should've known better to protect.

"Too close!" she yelled at him as he doubled over and hit the floor.

_Well, he's certainly never been kicked in the nuts before..._

* * *

**EchoGirl: Hahaha! Come on, you have to admit, Sayer/Divine was just asking for it. He's been asking for it since day 1... Anyways, I might take a little longer to update on the next chapter since I'm probably going to have to do some research but no worries! I'll have it as soon as possible.**

**Goldfish: Review!**


	31. Captor and Captive

**EchoGirl: Chapter 30 is up! Not a particularly long chapter, mainly there for building up suspense for the next chap. It's just Sayer/Divine and Destiny here... anyways, enjoy!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 30**

Her captor grunted as he got to his feet, his face contorted in fury. Destiny glared at him from where she was chained. He took a few steps towards her, and Destiny couldn't help but smirk at exaggerated slowness with which he moved. It had been a rather hard kick after all.

"Reflex," she explained simply. A blatant lie, but all the same. Staring directly into the man's cold green eyes, it was impossible to miss the burning rage they held. She shuddered slightly, but continued to glare defiantly: his eyes reminded her of dry ice, cold enough to burn.

She was hardly surprised when his open palm collided with her cheek, throwing her off to the side; she would have been knocked over were it not for the chains keeping her upright. Despite the burning pain in her cheek, she continued to glare at him unflinchingly. His hand was still raised, ready to strike her again.

Roughly, he grabbed her chin and forced her face upwards, his fingers digging into her jaw. She remained silent, all too aware of the stinging flesh of her left cheek. He turned her head to the side, his thumb pressing into the soft white skin of her neck.

"Destiny Fudo," he murmured, "that wasn't very nice of you. Such a low blow."

Jerking her head out of his grip, the dark-haired duellist snapped in reply, "last I heard, stalking and chloroform were even lower. Jeez, you're worse than Chania."

"Chania?" the man question, cocking his head slightly to the left, "a yes, that Deltoure girl you got into a fight with at that opening night."

"See?" Destiny hissed, "you _are _a stalker! Now, who are you? What do you want with me?"

The man chuckled darkly, earning a glare from his sapphire-eyed captive, "so many demands and so little manners. And I thought you to be of good breeding, Miss Fudo. At least on one side of the family."

_This _caught Destiny's attention and her focus snapped back onto her red-haired captor, "what do you know about _my _breeding, Mr. Who-ever-you-are?"

He shook his head and sighed. "Definitely know manners. And I thought that you might have at least inherited _some _of your mother's qualities."

Destiny froze; this man knew her mother.

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly. "Did you know my mother?"

"Very well, actually," the man responded breezily, "we were, shall we say, _close. _She was a favourite pupil of mine, believe it or not."

Struck with a sudden revelation, Destiny's mind flew back to only a few weeks earlier. To something her father had said.

"…_She was part a something called the Arcadia Movement, you see, a legion of psychic duellists led by a man named Sayer. It was Sayer who led her off of the duelling arena, she was one of the Movement's best, and a personal favourite of Sayer's. I could see the hatred in his eyes as he looked at me, cursing me for what I had done to his precious Black Rose…"_

At once the girl's head snapped upwards, so as she could look properly at the man with the cold green eyes, see him. And what she saw disturbed her. She could see the hatred in his eyes, the same hatred that her father had described. Eyes, she had been told, were the gateways to the soul and in this man's eyes she saw only darkness, loathing, and an unquenchable lust for revenge.

It was that that gave him away.

"Sayer," she breathed. The man smirked.

"I was wondering when you would work it out. For someone of your intelligence, Destiny, you're not very bright."

"And you're suppose to be dead," the girl retorted, "slowly being digested within the belly of a ridiculously named Earthbound Immortal."

"Ccarayhua," Sayer corrected, his expression twisting into a scowl at the name of the dark god that had devoured him.

"Yeah. So how are you here? Did Ccara-whatever-its-name-is decide it didn't like the taste of evil psychics and spit you out again? Or did you come out the other end? Tell me, do the Earthbound Immortals have their own toilet or do they just, y'know, do it anywhere? What have you been doing all this time, anyway? Sulking for the past sixteen years?"

A muscle in the man's jaw twitched and Destiny knew that she was irritating him. Good. He deserved to be irritated.

"Silence!" he snapped. She stopped and raised a questioning eyebrow at him, refusing to be intimidated.

"What I have been doing for the past few years is not something I wish to divulge. Particularly not with _you._ Moving on, however, I see that have in fact inherited some _abilities _of your mother's."

"My psychic powers?" Destiny asked, smirking, "I'm afraid they're not up for sale."

"I'm asking whether they're up for sale or not," Sayer replied, once again reaching for and grasping her chin, "I'm taking them anyway."

She gasped as his hand moved lower and tightened around her neck.

_He's strangling me! _She realised.

"No you're not," she choked out, "I'm bot stupid enough to fall for you're lies, Sayer. I'm not my mother. I've learnt from her mistakes. I know what you've done. To me, you're just a sick, sadistic psychopath."

His cold green eyes narrowed as his grip on her throat tightened.

"You're a fool to mess with me, Miss Fudo. Brave, but a fool."

She didn't respond, only glared at him with those soul-seeing blue eyes of hers, struggling for breath through her pressured windpipe. He leaned in closer, to whisper in her ear; she could feel his warm breath against her skin and tried to recoil, but his hold on her neck was too strong.

"Don't you want to meet the woman that gave you life?"

He relinquished his grip and her head immediately swivelled round to stare at him, gasping for breath, her eyes wide.

"You know where my mother is?" her voice was barely above a whisper, still raspy from the choking.

He nodded triumphantly and trailed his knuckles across her cheekbone. "Yes, my little Witch of Dark Destiny. I know where she is."

He had her now: the girl wouldn't risk losing such important information about the one thing she desired most. He would have both his witches soon, and once he once done, Destiny Fudo would die. Such was the nature of revenge. Make her father and the other Signers pay.

"No!" Destiny yelled, catching onto his train of thought and jerking away from him, he cursed mentally, "I'm not a witch! I won't fall for your lies. You can't tempt me!"

"No?" he asked, growing irritated with her refusals to give in. It had been so much easier with Akiza, he thought, but then again, Destiny had always had the home and love that his Black Rose had so desired. "Well, I met with Akiza only a few days ago, did you know that?"

Destiny made no move to reply, merely stared at him with wide eyes, her heart pounding widely in her chest, so he simply continued.

"And she never made one single mention of you. Even when I told her that I was coming for you with the intention to kill you once I was through, she never did anything. Not even bat an eyelid. Since when did the Black Rose care?"

He smirked as he watched Destiny's face, heard her laboured breathing. She couldn't slip through his fingers now.

Destiny herself was struggling with the conflicting emotions that were raging inside her. Was Sayer telling the truth? Did her mother, the woman Destiny practically worshipped despite the fact that she couldn't remember her face, not care at all for her? Even if her life was at stake? She could burst out crying at the thought. But then she remembered all the times she'd begged her father to tell her about her, and the woman that he'd described was _not _the same one as Sayer's. So who was lying?

It was then that the revelation struck her. They weren't describing the same person. Sayer had been describing the Black Rose Witch and Yusei had been describing Akiza.

And Akiza was her mother. Not Sayer's monstrosity.

He wanted her to turn to the darkness, become his pawn just like her mother had once been. And she wasn't going to. She never would.

She hated this man with all her being.

"NO!" she screamed, taking the red-haired psychic by surprise, he had thought that he had trapped her in his carefully arranged web. But his shocked expression soon changed as he heard the breaking of glass as all the that looked down on the duelling arena shattered and winds picked up from nowhere around them. He glanced at his captive, the gales gathered around her, whipping her raven, magenta-streaked hair about her face.

He may not have made her mind his yet, but he had achieved something even greater, he thought as the wind whipped around him, attacking him mercilessly. Yet, only one triumphant thought past through his mind.

He had unleashed her psychic powers.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Ooh! The big stuffs coming up now! Destiny's psychic powers are loose! What will Sayer/Divine do next?**

**Goldfish: Probably toy with her some more?**

**EchoGirl: Yeah, that seems likely. Anyways, in the next chapter we'll have the adults finding out what's going on, probably some flashbacks to Destiny's childhood and dundundun! We find out some more about the mysterious legend Sherry was talking about. Ooh, the suspense!**

**Goldfish: Very suspenseful indeed.**

**EchoGirl: Uh-huh. Please review! Pretty please with a cherry on top?**


	32. Unleashed

**EchoGirl: Sorry about the long break. They're just loading us at school at the moment. Summer will be a relief. Anyways, here's the new chapter. The next one should be up pretty soon.**

**Goldfish: _Should?_**

**EchoGirl: _Will._**

******Goldfish: Right.**

**EchoGirl: Just do the disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 31**

"This place gives me the creeps," Vanessa announced as the four youths stood staring up at the, what appeared to be abandoned, Arcadia Movement Headquarters.

"Understatement of the century," Mark responded, his pale blue eyes widening as stared up to where the building met the sky.

"It certainly is big," Chris let out a low whistle.

Jake merely glared at the building, which was currently holding one of his best friends prisoner. He opened his mouth to speak when suddenly all that could be heard were the roars of furious winds and the shattering of what must have been a thousand crystal goblets.

They watched with wide, shocked eyes as all the windows suddenly smashed inwards, leaving naught but empty holes lined with jagged glass in the walls of the metal monstrosity.

"What the hell was that?" Chris gasped, one hand clutching his thunderous heart.

"Could that have been…" Vanessa began, her jade eyes sparkling with fear and concern, "…a display of psychic powers?"

All eyes turned to the tall young blond, the only one of them that had not spoken, questioning him; waiting for them to answer Vanessa's suggestion. He was the only one that had ever witnessed a display of psychic abilities, after all.

_*****Flashback*****_

_He had been four years old, almost five, and at his Uncle Yusei's house and was playing with Destiny. Chris and Mark hadn't been able to come because Uncle Kalin was working with Uncle Crow and Vanessa was only one year old; she wasn't any fun. So it was just him and Destiny._

"_Wanna duel?" the raven-haired girl asked him, smiling. He nodded enthusiastically. Neither of them were particularly amazing yet, but apparently they'd both shown 'great skills and understanding for their young age'. They were only four and five, after all. Destiny disappeared for a moment and returned with two duel-disks._

"_These were Uncle Leo and Auntie Luna's duel disks from when they were smaller. They're still a bit big though," she told him. Jake held out his hand and, in turn, Destiny handed him the one trimmed with pink and fastened the blue one onto her left arm. It almost immediately slipped off. Definitely too big._

_Jake stood still for a moment, blinking as he stared at the duel disk in his hands before raising his gaze to meet Destiny's. she merely smirked at him and he glared at her._

"_Pink's a girl's colour!" he yelled at her, "give me the blue one!"_

_The older girl glanced at him. "So I can't where blue because I'm a girl?" she asked, unimpressed by his sexist comment. She always had been a tad of a feminist._

"_No," Jake replied irritably, "I can't where pink because I'm a boy!"_

"_You are?" she asked just as Jake lunged for the duel disk slipping off her arm, grabbing it and wrenching it away from her._

"_Hey!" she exclaimed as he threw the pink one at her, which she caught expertly. She glanced at it and glared at him. It was his turn to look smug, fastening the too big duel disk._

_Huffing, she proceeded to fasten the girly duel disk on her own arm, holding it to make sure it didn't slip. She glared at her best friend and went to fetch the cards that she had gotten for her birthday last year._

_Just as she returned, Jake realised something._

"_I don't have my deck," the young boy informed and Destiny scanned through her cards._

"_It's okay," she told him, "we can half my deck and play with twenty cards each."_

"_So," Jake began as the raven-haired girl began to shuffle the cards, "you said that you found a new card."_

"_Yeah," Destiny responded happily, "I found it when I was in the Satellite with Daddy. It was just lying around in one of the junk yards."_

_She ceased her shuffling to pull out a single card and smiled softly at it before turning it to face him. He walked forward to get a better view._

_His eyes widened as he looked on at the card in awe. It was an elegant red and white dragon with a serpent like body and gold tipped scales. The only thought he had to describe it was that it was like dragon royalty – more impressive than any of the dragons he had ever seen before, even more so than his father's Red Dragon Archfiend or Uncle Yusei's Stardust Dragon._

"_Red Destiny Dragon," he read slowly before glancing at his best friend, "its name is the same as yours!"_

_She giggled and brought the card close to her chest, "that's one of the things I like about it!"_

_He nodded as she continued, "and it likes me too. He's very friendly to me, he said I'm that special and that I'm his only mistress."_

"_Destiny," Jake laughed, "cards don't talk!"_

"_Mine do!" the older girl defended, slipping Red Destiny back into her deck, "Auntie Luna's talk to her as well!"_

"_Really?" he asked, the sarcasm in his voice unmistakable. Destiny nodded._

"_I can see them. I've always been able to see them."_

_Slightly freaked out by the seriousness in her voice, he decided to brush it off as her joking. _No one, _with maybe the exception of Auntie Luna, could see and talk to duel monster spirits. It was impossible._

"_You're weird, Destiny. Come on, let's duel."_

_She passed him half of her shuffled deck and the two headed outside where it was more spacious._

_The duel was more than a little confusing for Jake. He didn't understand the strange fate deck that Destiny used and her weird monsters and complicated spells and traps. He wasn't getting anywhere. He hated losing._

**Jake: 700LP Destiny: 4200LP**

_A thirty five hundred lifepoint lead was not good. Not for him, at least._

_All Jake had on his side of the field was a single measly Dark Fate Token, which had been automatically summoned with the destruction of Black Magician of Fate. Truth be told, the young blond was getting rather fed up with the bunch of strange traps and spells in his hand. How did Destiny work these fate things?_

"_So I'll play a face down and end my turn," the young girl announced as a card hologram appeared face down on the field. She had _way _more of an advantage than him with White Magician of Fate, Lord of Time and two face downs on her side of the field._

"_My draw," Jake said as he drew one of his – well, technically Destiny's – last cards from its holder in the oversized duel disk which was beginning to hurt his arm. There really was a disadvantage in playing with only twenty cards each. Both young duellist only had five or six cards left._

_Flipping the card over, Jake examined it carefully. It was a level 4 monster card, which was good, called Guide of Lost Souls with only 1200 attack points and 900 defence points but, as he had learnt, Destiny's deck was not centred around excessively powerful monsters. This particular card had a very useful special ability which, upon summoning, allowed it to automatically send any one of Destiny's monsters to the graveyard as long as it went with it: costing only the opponent to lose lifepoints worth half the destroyed monster's attack points. And Time Lord had 2200 attack points. Perfect._

"_I play–" Jake began, raising the card, but was interrupted by sniggering. It seemed that he and Destiny had gained a crowd. And not the sort of crowd one wanted to gain._

_A group of rather… unsavoury looking teenagers were gathered watching them, a strange glint in their eyes. Jake didn't like it._

"_Well, well, well," one, the leader apparently, said as the two youngsters eyes turned to him and his group, "what have we here? Two little babies playing a game for grown-ups."_

"_Duel Monster's is for everyone," Destiny replied indignantly._

"_Oh yeah?" one of the teens, a lanky, pimply one with spiked blue hair, asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_We're probably better than you," Jake snorted._

_That comment certainly attracted the gang's attention._

"_Ya think?" the leader asked, "you know who we are? We're the most feared duel gang in all of New Domino City. And I'm Crash. The leader. We're famous."_

_Jake smirked as he heard Destiny snicker slightly at the ridiculous alias – who would call themselves _Crash_? Really._

"_Can't be that famous if we've never heard of you," he responded cheekily._

_Crash was furious. How old was this kid exactly? Four, five? No matter, this kid was trouble and he was going to be dealt with accordingly. His little girlfriend too. Both of them. No one insulted him or his gang._

_Jake and Destiny's eyes widened as the group closed in around them._

"_Just for that," Crash said menacingly, "you're going to pay."_

_With that, the duel disk was knocked off of Jake's arm, clattering to the ground and was promptly picked up by one of the gang's members who removed all nineteen cards (he was still holding Guide of Lost Souls) and passed them to Crash who examined them boredly. Throwing all the weaker ones on the ground._

_Jake could almost feel Destiny's rage at how her cards were being treated, yet neither dare act for fear of what these older boys may do to them._

_Finally, Crash reached the bottom of the pile and smiled, seemingly having found something he liked._

"_Something good, boss?" one member of the group asked, trying to see what had captured his leader's attention._

"_Sure have," Crash replied, twisting his grip on the card so as everyone could see it. A strangled choke escaped from Destiny._

_It was Red Destiny Dragon._

"_No!" she gasped on the verge of tears._

"_What?" Crash asked, smirking, "is this your card?"_

_Destiny nodded._

"_Well," the teenage boy's smirk only got wider, "mine now. Now, give us the rest of your cards."_

_Jake didn't know what came over Destiny at that moment, it was like she just snapped. He felt the wind pick up, felt it pulling at his clothes, heard the sound of something breaking, smashing._

_And somehow, he knew that this was Destiny's doing._

_He watched with wide violet eyes as her expression hardened into one of pure rage and determination, her sapphire eyes narrowing and glancing at her duel disk, and then at the holograms that were still activated on her side of the field._

"_White Magician!" she yelled, much to the surprise of both Jake and the gang – was she actually going to attack them with a _hologram – _she didn't half to continue as the White Magician of Fate rose into the air, brandishing her silver staff and aiming it at the gang emitting a blaze of silver flames that sent the gang flying backwards into a wall, surrounding them with the pale, unnatural flames._

_Shocked and more than a little afraid, Jake turned to his friend only to get the shock of his life to find her silhouetted in the sunset. But that wasn't scared him. Her eyes were glowing red, and that same light emitted from different parts of her body: they spiralled up one leg; one arm; her shoulders; her waist…_

"_Destiny?" he asked fearfully as she looked at him._

"_Jake?" her voice was just as frightened as his, if not more so. She took a step forwards and he took a step back. Almost as soon as it had happened the strange glowing mark faded and her eyes turned back to their normal blue._

"_Jake, I'm scared," she whispered just as she collapsed._

_*****End flashback*****_

Jake shook his head and glanced back up at the now windowless Arcadia Movement Headquarters before glancing at his friends. He nodded.

"Yes. Those were psychic powers that did that."

Shuddering, Vanessa glanced back at the building.

"So what do we do?"

"We go in," Jake told them.

"Yeah," Chris agreed, cracking his knuckles, "Queenie needs our help and we're not gonna leave her in there."

Mark nodded in agreement and the four friends simultaneously took a deep breath and entered the heart of the Arcadia Movement. They were on a mission.

* * *

_**Tops, the twin's mansion…**_

The last thing Leo had expected when he had walked into the living room of the mansion that he still shared with his sister was to Luna sitting motionlessly on the sofa, her olive eyes wide in shock, surprise and, overall, fear.

He rushed over and shook her.

"Luna!" he exclaimed, "Luna, what is it?"

The young woman blinked rapidly and shook her head as she stared at her brother. Letting out a strangled sob, she wrapped her arms around the already confused Leo.

"Luna, what is it?" Leo asked, returning the embrace, "your new boyfriend dump you or something?"

His twin pulled away and shook her head. "No," she replied, her voice quiet and barely audible to Leo's ears, "it's much worse than that."

Now, the turquoise-haired man was concerned. What could've happened that could be so bad to shock his sister like this. "Tell me."

Slowly, Luna lifted her gaze to meet that of brother's. "Sayer's back."

Leo's looked at her strangely for a moment before speaking.

"Hey, Luna, can you say that again for me? It sounded for a moment that you said that _Sayer's _back."

"I did," Luna replied, "he is back. And he's got Destiny."

The next thing that both the twins realised was that Leo was on the floor, his mouth hanging open, trying to speak but failing.

"We gotta call Yusei and the others," the exclaimed once his voice and other senses returned and he ran out of the room. Luna winced as he returned with the phone. This was not going to be pretty.

"Hello?" it was Crow's voice that answered.

"Hey, Crow," Leo greeted.

"Oh, hey, Leo. What's up?"

"Hi, Crow," Luna added; the phone was on loudspeaker.

"Hey, Luna. Why are you guys calling?"

"Are Yusei and the others with you?" Luna asked.

"Yeah," Crow replied, "I'm here with Yusei, Jack and Kalin."

_Good, _Luna thought, _it was their kids that went to find Destiny._

"Can you put this on loudspeaker? There's something we need to tell you…"

"Uh, sure. Guys! It's Luna and Leo, they want to talk to us!"

The twins could tell as soon as Crow had put them on loudspeaker. Several greetings came through the phone. The female twin took a deep breath and began, "we have something to tell you…"

"What?" came Jack's irritable voice.

"Well…"

"Sayer's back!" Leo blurted out. There was total silence for a few moments before the simultaneous exclamations of "WHAT?" where heard. The outrage in the four adults was more than evident (well, three, since Kalin didn't really know Sayer, but he head heard enough to get an adequate description of the man and had come to the conclusion that he did _not _like him).

"And he's got Destiny," Luna's voice was quiet but her statement had obviously been heard as all hell broke loose on the other end.

Both twins flinched at the stream of excessive unspeakable curses that were coming out of the phone from all four of the men.

"We'll be right over," Yusei was the last one to speak before the call ended.

Luna and Leo both slumped into the sofa.

_I almost feel sorry for the psycho, _Leo thought as he imagined all the possibilities of what might happen the moment Team 5D's got their hands on the crazed, power-hungry lunatic.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Hm. Not my best chapter, but still. It was mostly flashback anyway. So, the next chapter should be up quite soon. Review!**

**Goldfish: Weren't you going to tell them something?**

**EchoGirl: Oh, yeah! Well, my faithful readers, this story doesn't have all that much more to go and since I've been getting tonnes of really good reviews (which has made me happy) I was considering a sequel, okay not really a sequel-sequel but a _sort of _sequel. Same characters, OCs and everything. I've put a bit of a summery up for it on my profile if you want to check it out. Basically it takes place about 6 months after this one and Destiny, Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa go back in time to the Fortune Cup/Dark Signer Arcs and wreak some havoc. You can tell me if this sounds OK by either mailing my profile or saying something in one of the reviews. Thanks and I'll have the next chapter up soon!**


	33. Begin Experiment

**EchoGirl: Well, here's the next chapter up. Thanks for all the positive responses to my sequel idea, I think I'll go ahead with it. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 32**

"YOU'RE LYING!" the girl screamed as she and the man opposite her were showered in shards of broken glass, the wind whipping furiously around them.

Sayer merely smirked; Destiny had never felt as much rage and hatred as she did at the moment and it was all directed towards this one man, who did he think he was to toy with her like this? She struggled against the chains that bound her arms above her head, trying to lunge at him.

"Very good," he commented as he was faced with the cold gusts of Destiny's rage, and that was only a small display of the power that she housed within her. Could the legends be true? Was she really what they said she was?

"What do you want with me?" she asked, practically hissing at him. She reminded him of a trapped animal, a caged lioness. "You didn't bring me here just to taunt me with your lies."

"No," he admitted, "I brought you here to test you. You're very powerful, Destiny; I just want to see how powerful. To see if you're what the legends say you are. Then I'll decide what to do with you."

"So, I'm an experiment?" Destiny spat, "just something you can mess around with and use for your own gains? And if I don't reach your standards you'll just get rid of me? AKA, kill me?"

Sayer shrugged, "I guess that's one way of putting it. Think of yourself as Akiza's replacement."

Destiny glare only intensified, especially with the mention of her mother. "You're sick."

"Maybe I am. But this is all for a greater purpose; I shall make the Arcadia Movement great again!" he moved forward and grabbed the girl's chin once more, forcing her to look up into his maniacal jade eyes, "and you, my little witch, are going to help me."

"_Never_," Destiny hissed, pulling her face out of his grip. Once again, the infuriating man only smirked.

"Regardless," he continued, "you will help be whether you wish it or not."

With that he stepped back and produced a strange contraption from what seemed like nowhere. He walked back towards her and Destiny recognised it to be a helmet of some sort with some strange devices sticking out of it. She tried unsuccessfully to shy away from him as he placed it on her head.

"What's with the stupid helmet?" she asked, glaring at him before glancing downwards, trying to catch her reflection in one of the broken shards, "I look like a gay Viking. Is this really necessary?"

"Yes!" Sayer snapped irritably, this girl was really beginning to grate on his nerves. Children had no respect these days. Muttering something under his breath, he reached up and freed Destiny's arms.

It was almost painful for her as the blood rushed back into her limbs after they had been suspended for so long, but all the same she realised something she hadn't noticed earlier with her arms being as numb as they were. There was the unmistakable weight of her duel disk on her left arm.

She glanced at it, making sure it wasn't damaged and that her deck was still intact. Everything appeared to be fine and she felt the spirits of her monsters around her, only White Magician was missing.

Preparing to make a run for it, she felt something keeping her where she was. Looking down, she noticed another chain connecting her ankle to the steel floor. She frowned and tugged at it before once again glaring at Sayer.

"You're really taking precautions, huh?" she asked.

He didn't bother to respond and instead merely activated his own duel disk.

"It's time for your test. Let's push your powers to the limit."

The coldness of Destiny's glare only increased as she activated her own duel disk. He was making a big mistake, and she was going to make him realise it.

"With pleasure."

"Duel!"

* * *

"No wonder this Sayer dude's a complete loony," Chris commented as the quartet travelled through the abandoned hallways of the Arcadia Movement HQ, "living in this creepy place is enough to drive anyone nuts. Even me."

"Chris," Vanessa said as they entered another room, "you're already nuts."

"Whatever," the ice blue-haired boy grumbled as they began heading up another flight of stairs.

"Ugh," Mark muttered as they climbed upwards, "where could she be?"

"She's probably duelling," Jake told them, logically, "that's the only way that her powers will completely activate, thus she is probably in a duelling arena."

"Makes sense," Vanessa murmured as they halted and entered a room full of tools and other apparatus.

"Hm," Jake said as he picked up a rather large, heavy spanner about the length of his forearm. "This'll do."

"For what?" Chris asked.

"For if we meet any rather, shall we say, unsavoury characters."

The elder Kessler twin seemed to brighten up immediately as he grabbed a rather scary-looking wrench. "Whoo! Let's pound 'em! I heard these things are really good for knocking people out with!"

"Chris," Vanessa said, "that's pipe wrench. We want to knock them out not murder someone!"

"Man slaughter," Chris corrected, "it would be in self defence."

"Whatever," Jake butted in, "just don't drop that thing on my foot."

After gathering their 'weapons of mass destruction' AKA, their very dangerous and scary toolkit, they once again set off in attempt to find a duel arena. It couldn't possibly be _that _hard, after all duel arenas where not small and since the windows had all been obliterated – courtesy of the dark-haired damsel-in-distress (she would personally kill them she ever heard them refer to her as that) – the building was no longer soundproof and duels were certainly not quiet little card games.

Suddenly, Vanessa sensitive ears caught hold of something.

"I hear something!" she announced, taking the lead from Jake, "follow me!"

They didn't have far to go before the ginger-haired girl pushed open a door and the group walked into what had to be a viewing platform. The full-length windows now devoid of glass looking down on the arena sort of gave it away.

"Look!" Mark exclaimed pointing down at where two duellists stood on opposite ends of the arena. One was a tall man with the worst fashion sense and most ridiculous hairstyle Jake had ever seen. Really, a black shirt with a white tie, a _green _waistcoat and _black _gloves? The jeans didn't help much either. And the _hair! _All four friends had to suppress a snort at the dark red mullet with that ridiculously with all the hair at the front covering the right side of his face.

"Is he an emo or something?" Vanessa whispered.

"He's got a very strange fashion sense for an emo then," Mark commented.

"He strikes me as the sort of guy that would be a cross dresser."

All eyes turned in the direction of the thin, blue-eyed boy that the last comment had come from.

"What the hell, Chris?"

Finally Jake's eyes shifted away from the strange weirdly dressed guy and focused on his opponent, his violet eyes widening as he recognised her. That magenta streaked hair was unmistakable, even underneath the demented Viking helmet.

"It's Destiny," Vanessa's voice was barely above a whisper.

Jake's eyes drifted back to the man that was Destiny opponent. He certainly looked psychotic enough to be who he suspected him to be. He watched carefully as the two activated their duel disks.

"Then that must be Sayer."

"Duel!"

* * *

**EchoGirl: I know this chapter isn't very long but still. I'll have the next one up soon and please review!**


	34. Blinded by Fury

**EchoGirl: And finally, the next chapter!**

**Goldfish: At last. You've been so slow lately.**

**EchoGirl: I've been busy!**

**Goldfish: Pah. You're never busy. You're too lazy to even get up and do something with your life.**

**EchoGirl: Hey! I am not lazy! And look who's talking you just float around in a glass bowl all day you freaky staring backwards-swimming _thing!_**

**Goldfish: Sigh. I'm not a thing, Echo, I'm a goldfish; it's what I do. And I do not stare and swim backwards all the time. It just looks like that because I don't have [visible] eyelids and I'm not moving so the water carries me backwards.**

**EchoGirl: Now who's lazy?**

**Goldfish: I can't believe I have to live with this.**

**EchoGirl: As for the no-eyelid thing, that's just want you want me to think. I know your secret!**

**Goldfish: And would that be?**

**EchoGirl: WORLD DOMINATION!**

**Goldfish: DAMN STRAIGHT! Oh, and don't forget the complete anhiliation of the human race!**

**EchoGirl: (blinks) You _do_ realise that you're talking about this to a human, right?**

**Goldfish: Yes, and you, my dear Echo, shall be the first to be exterminated!**

**EchoGirl: (oh, crud) Scratch that! I'm not a human! I'm a martian from Jupiter.**

**Goldfish: ... Echo, martians only come from Mars, not Jupiter. That would be an _alien._ Or maybe a juparian...**

**EchoGirl: I don't care! Just do the disclaimer already!**

**Goldfish: My, my, my, very cranky today, aren't we? **

**EchoGirl: (growling) Goldfish...**

**Goldfish: Fine, fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's.**

**EchoGirl: Whoa, that was a long intro.**

**Goldfish: Ya think, Martian-who-comes-from-Jupiter.**

**EchoGirl: You're never going to get over that, are you?**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 33**

Vanessa watched with wide green eyes the duel that was taking place beneath her. Destiny versus Sayer, or 'the cross-dresser', at least according to Chris. She peered forward slightly as Sayer proceeded to summon some draconic beast that the young redhead had never seen before. She flinched slightly as she saw a clearly evil smirk spread across the face of the man in question as her friends voice rose in volume. He was baiting her, she could tell.

They had a perfect view of the arena and could see every little movement made by either duellist, yet Vanessa wished, however, that she could at least hear what they where saying; what Sayer was saying that was getting Destiny so worked up.

_No doubt something about her mother, _she concluded. _That_ certain topic never failed to get the duelling prodigy mad. She just hoped that, in her rage, her closest female friend didn't do anything stupid.

"Jake?" she asked turning to the tall blond boy beside her, "do you think Destiny will be okay?"

He didn't respond and first, didn't even look at her. Instead he kept his cold violet eyes focused on the duel. Finally, he decided to honour her with a response.

"Destiny's a good duellist," he assured her, "she won't let Sayer win without a fight."

"That's what I'm worried about," Vanessa admitted, glancing down at the dark-haired girl, "he _wants_ he to fight," she pointed at where Sayer was speaking and Destiny's face was growing red with fury, "look how he's provoking her. He wants her to unleash her full power."

"I see," Jake murmured turning back to the glass-free window while Chris and Mark merely gawked at her. She raised a ginger eyebrow at them.

"Since when did you get so smart?" Mark asked.

"Sack," Chris agreed.

"I'm not a sack," Vanessa denied, "I just happen to have a brain in my head and know how to use it; unlike you two who just have sawdust."

"Hey-" Chris began but was interrupted by a shrill cry of shock and pain as Sayer's dragon attacked Destiny's Crimson Magician of Fate, completely obliterating and causing Destiny's lifepoints to drop by sixteen hundred.

It was not this, however, that caught the four youth's attention but rather the fact that open collision of the two beasts Destiny was sent flying backwards and the chain attached to her ankle was the only thing keeping her from slamming into the wall. Instead her back impacted with the cold steel floor.

"Destiny," Vanessa whispered as the blue-eyed girl slowly got to her feet and drew a card from her deck, glanced at it and smirked as she placed it onto her duel disk.

A small smile tugged at Vanessa's lips as Guide of Lost Souls was summoned to the field. She knew that old boy's special effect well enough to know that it meant Destiny at least stood a small chance.

The gang watched as Destiny pointed at Sayer's dragon and with a single touch from Guide of Lost Souls it was sent packing to the graveyard. Excellent, Vanessa thought, Sayer deserved to have his lifepoints brought down by two thousand and since this was a psychic duel, he would _feel _it...

It came to them as a great surprise, however, when it was not Sayer that the pain-filled agonized scream errupted from, but Destiny. Eight fists clenched simultaneously. What exactly was going on?

* * *

_**Downstairs, the duel arena...**_

"Aaaah!" Destiny screamed as she was hit with the pain of a thousand electric volts passing through her body. She fell to her knees and stared up at the smirking Sayer.

"Why did I feel it and not you?" she gasped, staring up at him.

He merely laughed. "Like I said, you're very powerful, Destiny. I couldn't take the risk of fatally injuring myself duelling you. That helmet you're wearing has been specially programmed to turn the psychic energies that you are giving off into electricity and redirect them so as they are aimed

at you and not me. So you better watch that temper of yours, or you'll be the one joining the stars. And we wouldn't want that now, would we?"

"You mean," Destiny whispered in horror, "that my powers are too strong then I might end up... killing myself?"

"Precisely," Sayer nodded. "It would be a shame if that happened, these things are much easier to if the subject is alive, but I do suppose that these things happen sometimes. Nevertheless, I shall still find a way to possess your power even if I have to personally absorb it from your lifeless corpse."

Destiny suddenly felt incredible urge to throw up; preferably all over Sayer's shiny expensive leather shoes, _I'm nothing more than a lab rat to him!_

"You're sick," she choked out, staring up at him with an expression of pure hatred.

"Oh, hush, now," Sayer berated, thoroughly tired of the girl's pathetic insults. Really, why did it have to be him she had to preach her worthless morals to? Why couldn't it be her meddling father?

"At least I actually have morals! And I don't need to preach them to my father because he's not some scheming, lying, son of a-"

But Sayer wasn't listening. There was something far more interesting going through his scheming mind.

_She's telepathic, _he realised, _at least somewhat so if she could understand my thoughts. This is excellent, she's more powerful than I anticipated. Could the legends be true?_

He may as well push her further to see.

_Oh, what Goodwin would give for this, _he thought, laughing maniacally within the recesses of his mind, being careful to shield his thoughts in case she read them.

Telepathy," he commented aloud, "even you're mother wasn't that good. You'll make an ample replacement for her."

Just as expected, Destiny temper flared up once again.

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this, you two-faced raving psychopath. And don't delude yourself into thinking that I'll ever become your little chesspiece: I'm no subordinate of yours and I never will be!"

"Oh, really?" Sayer asked, baiting her once again. Subconciously, he came to the conclusion that she had no knowledge of her telepathy and that it must just seem that she had good insight and was an excellent judge of character, could she speak to monster spirits? Such an ignorant child... the perfect psychic warrior.

"Really," Destiny hissed, taking a card from her hand and throwing it down onto the duel disk. "I summon Guard of the Underworld in attack mode!"

A fierce, snarling, black three-headed dog appeared on Destiny's side of the field, each head resembling that of a rottweiler. It's lips were drawn back and it bore its sharp white teeth at Sayer. It appeared as displeased with him as its mistress. Her bond with her cards was stronger than he had expected. She obviously _could _speak to the spirits.

**Guard of the Underworld: Level 4 Dark Fate Monster AKT: 1500 DEF: 1500**

"Quite the pet," the man sneered as the canine duel monster growled at him. Truth be told, he was slightly intimidated: he had had a fear of dogs as a child and now with this solid _three-headed, inky black giant rottweiler _in front of him he had to maintain himself, successfully, from trembling.

"Shut up!" Destiny hissed, shooting a quick loving glance at her monsterous beast before picking another card from her hand and placing it on the duel disk, "upon summoning Guard of the Underworld automactically seals the dead from the living which means that we both need to remove all the cards in our individual graveyards from play."

"Very well," Sayer complied as both duellists emptied out their graveyards.

"Now," Destiny continued, "I summon my tuner monster Cherry Puff!"

With that something that looked like a cross between a cherry and a wad of candy floss appeared on her side of the field, it's childish cuteness disturbingly out of place with the two menacing dark fate monsters beside it.

**Cherry Puff: Level 1 Tuner Monster AKT: 200 DEF: 100**

Destiny smiled warmly at it, it had been one of her favourite playmates as a child, before glaring coldly at Sayer.

"A little too childish for my taste but incredibly cute if that's your taste Miss Fudo," he commented contemptuously.

As planned, this comment only made Destiny madder.

_Yes, _he urged mentally, _unleash your true potentially._

"Well, this little cutie will orchestrate your demise, Sayer! I combine my Level 1 Cherry Puff with my Level 3 Guide of Lost Souls and my Level 4 Guard of the Underworld to synchro summon..."

The smirk on Sayer's face only widened, not that Destiny in her rage noticed as was she oblivious to the heavy crackling of electricity around her.

"This is it," he murmured with sadistic glee.

* * *

_**Upstairs, the viewing box...**_

"No!" Jake exclaimed, horrified, "what is she thinking!"

"She's walking right into his trap!" Chris yelled in agreement.

"She's not thinking," Vanessa told them quietly, hugging her arms close to her chest, "Sayer's been pushing her and pushing her and she's finally snapped. This is what's he's been planning all along..."

"Oh, no," Mark murmured as their friend fell right into the enemies hands.

"Destiny..." Jake whispered looking down at her beautiful, enraged form.

* * *

_**Back Downstairs, duelling arena...**_

"...Red Destiny Dragon!"

* * *

**EchoGirl: DUNDUNDUUUUUN! Cliff hanger!**

**Goldfish: Indeed.**

**EchoGirl: And I finally made 400 reviews!**

**Goldfish: Indeed.**

**EchoGirl: And I'd be extra extra happy if I could get more reviews!**

**Goldfish: Indeed.**

**EchoGirl: So review!**

**Goldfish: Indeed.**

**EchoGirl: And I should have the next chapter up soon.**

**Goldfish: Indeed.**

**EchoGirl: Will you please stop saying that?**

**Goldfish: Indeed.**

**EchoGirl: I'm serious.**

**Goldfish: Indeed you are, Martian-who-comes-from-Jupiter.**

**EchoGirl: AARRGGHH! (throws rock at goldfish bowl) Quit it!**


	35. The Crimson Vessel

**EchoGirl: Here's the next chapter, enjoy! I've been dying to get this one up since I started the story!**

**Goldfish: Yes, she's been going on about it constantly.**

**EchoGirl: Have not!**

**Goldfish: Have too!**

**EchoGirl: Have not!**

**Goldfish: Have too!**

**EchoGirl: Just do the disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: Fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.****A Rose in the Stars**

* * *

**Chapter 34**

"Red Destiny Dragon!"

There was a horrible creaking sound as the wind picked up and pannels were ripped from the walls and sent flying across the room. A fragment of glass slashed Destiny's cheek as, with a thunderous roar of rage and fury, her beloved ace monster made its grand entrance entrance onto the field. Sayer watched with a smirk as its serpent-like body uncoiled and it raised its majestic head skywards.

The time was rapidly approaching.

He watched unflinchingly as the beast stared down at him with flaming black and red eyes, even daring to meet its hostile gaze.

_Not even you can protect your mistress now._

In response to his thoughts, the dragon let out another fury-filled roar. It was at that precise moment that the energy that had been building up finally errupted in a blaze of yellow sparks. The deranged psychic could only laugh maniacally as his prodigy's daughter screamed in agony, before finally wrenching the helmet off her head and throwing it away, collapsing to the ground.

* * *

_**Upstairs, viewing box...**_

The others gasped as Destiny was finally able to remove the helmet and flung it away several feet before falling to the ground. Vanessa buried her face Mark's arm, one hand clutching at her heart, Destiny's agonized screams still ringing in her ears. She glanced at the three boys that stood with her. They didn't look much better: not even ghosts could ever have been so pale.

Almost hesitantly, she glanced downwards. Destiny was lying motionless on the floor. Was she? No, that was impossible! She wasn't! Not Destiny!

Then she saw her twitch and begin to raise her head to Sayer, and Vanessa could almost _feel _the raw power hanging heavily in the air. Was Destiny making this?

Her breathing quickened as she noticed Destiny begin to get to her feet, her slender arms shaking wildly beneath the weight of her body before completely giving way.

The young redhead was shocked; she had never seen her friend this weak before. It was as if Sayer was literally trying to kill her.

With that revelation her shock transformed into anger and she clenched her fists which were now trembling with the desire to beat the smirk off that laughing psycho jerk's face and then beat him into a pulp with Chris's pipe wrench.

Destiny _had _to live, she was too stubborn not to. She _would _make it through whatever Sayer was trying to do and kick his psychic butt in the process, and Vanessa was prepared to do anything to make sure that she did.

"DESTINY!" she yelled through the broken window.

* * *

_**Downstairs, duelling arena...**_

"DESTINY!"

Destiny moaned, blinking, desperately trying to clear her vision of black dots that were forever growing in quantity. It was no secret that she wouldn't be concious for much longer.

_Was that... _her mind struggled to register the noise she had just heard, _was that... Vanessa's voice? What's she doing here?_

Too many muffled noises, too many blurry shapes, was all she could think as she drifted into another bout of unconciousness.

_Mistress, _the familiar voice sounded within her numbed mind.

_Red Destiny..._

_Mistress, wake up..._

Forcing her eyes to open once more, even if only minimally Destiny glanced up at where the voice that had sound so like Vanessa's had come from. Her half-opened eyes found the ruined viewing box and widened fully as she recognised the blurry shapes of who was inside: Vanessa, Jake, Chris, Mark... what where they doing here! They could get hurt!

"DESTINY!" Vanessa's voice hit her ears once more, "GET UP! WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!"

"Well, well, well, looks like we have company. Impossible to get any privacy these days."

"Sayer..." she whispered, recognising his cold, masculine voice.

"Oh, you're still there," his voice was filled with disgust. "Shame. I thought I was rid of you."

"What?" she sneered from her spot on the cold metal floor, "so that you could drain my power from my lifeless corpse? Typical."

"You, Miss Fudo, need to learn to hold your tongue. It will be your undoing."

"Screw... you..." she muttered as the blackness once again attempted to take hold of her, this timeb though she managed to fight it, though the dark spots still marred her vision.

"Quite the pitiful sight you are," Sayer continued, ignoring her, "lying down there like the worthless little brat that you are. Take joy in the fact that you'll soon no longer be around to plague the world with your presence. And soon your little friends will join you."

Destiny's face darkened and Sayer's constant smirk only stretched wider across his face. It was apparent that he had hit a nerve. The time had almost arrived.

"Don't you dare touch them," she hissed.

"Really, I think they would be good company for you in the afterlife."

"I SAID DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THEM!"

Sayer smirk finally exploded into full-blown very evil-looking grin as Destiny eyes began to morph from sapphire blue into a glowing scarlet, the pupils disappearing in the bright light being given off by the iris and she began to rise upward into the air.

So. The legends were true after all.

* * *

_**Upstairs, viewing box...**_

The four friends shrank back as Destiny began to rise into the air, her eyes glowing an unnatural red and her body curling up into the fetal position.

"What on earth?" Jake whispered, watching with wide violet eyes.

What was happening? What was this?

* * *

_**Tops, just outside the twin's mansion...**_

Hurriedly, Yusei, Jack, Crow, Kalin and Bruno parked their duel runners and began to make their way towards the door. The twins burst out and ran to meet them.

"Guys!" Leo exclaimed, rushing forward with his sister just behind them.

"Where's Destiny?" Yusei asked, immediately getting to the point, "where did Sayer take her?"

"Arcadia," Luna replied.

"What about Nessie?" Crow asked, "and Jake, Chris and Mark?"

"They followed," the female twin told them.

Jack sighed audibly. "Perfect. Just perfect."

"They could've at least waited for-" Crow broke off as he felt a sudden pain in his right arm. At once he pulled back his sleeve to reveal his tail mark glowing brighter than ever. He glanced up. Yusei, Jack and Luna where doing the same, their marks all glowing equally bright.

"What is this?" Jack asked, examining his arm briefly before glancing at Yusei for an explanation.

"I dunno," Yusei replied, his blue eyes locked on his head mark before jerking upwards to look at the crowd which where all looking at him for an explanation. "But I have a feeling that it has something to do with Destiny."

"She might be in trouble!" Leo exclaimed.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Yusei replied before getting back onto runner, Jack, Crow, Bruno and Kalin doing the same.

"We need to get to the old Arcadia Movement Headquarters," he told them, adjusting his helmet.

"We're coming too!" Leo announced, racing back inside and returning with his and Luna's D-Boards. They had always preferred their custom-made skateboards to the oh-so-typical duel runners.

Yusei nodded before staring up at the sky.

_Destiny, _he thought, glancing momentarily at his glowing arm, _I don't know what's going on here or what Sayer's up to but hold on. I'm coming for you._

* * *

_**Danson City...**_

Akiza grunted as her right arm was hit with a sudden scorching sensation, the kind of sensation that she hadn't felt in years since she had been with the rest of Team 5D's as a Signer.

"Aki, is something wrong?" Jenna asked as Akiza hurriedly removed the long black fingerless glove on her right arm to reveal the glowing back claw eternally imprinted into her skin that marked her as a warrior of the Crimson Dragon.

"Aki?" Jenna gasped as she saw the mark, "what is that? Did you get, like, a glowing tattoo or something?"

Akiza shook her head numbly. "Something's happening."

"What?" Jenna asked, thoroughly confused.

"Something big that involves the Signers."

"Akiza, what are you talking about?"

Instead of replying, the magenta-haired woman merely stared and her mark, wondering what was going on that semed to require her attention. This was the first time it had acted up in years. Where the other Signers experiencing this as well?

It was the last thought, however, that really caught her attention.

_Will I have to go back?_

* * *

_**Back at the Arcadia Movement HQ, duelling arena...**_

Destiny was frightened. She had no idea what was going on, only that her body was doing things without her telling it to do them. She was floating about twenty feet off the ground curled up in a tight ball and her entire body felt like it was on fire.

Then she felt it. The stinging sensation, like a knife being dragged across her skin.

First at the top of her left arm, over her shoulder and along her collar bone, finally ending at her breastbone. Then at her right wrist, spiralling up her arm until finally stopping just above her elbow. Then at her left hip and round her back until it reached her opposite hip. Then a quarter way down her left thigh, coiling round to her knee and then her right foot spiralling upwards to just below her knee. Finally in the centre of her back a large almost circle, with several extensions coming out from different spots.

It was hard not to scream, for it had felt like intricate patterns were being drawn across her skin with a knife, but she had sworn not to give Sayer the satisfaction of seeing her pain ever again.

At last she felt the pain numb, but the areas where the what had felt like knives had drawn remained stinging, and her body unfurled and she stretched her arms out wide.

At once she was hit by the sense of deja vu. Had this not happened before when she was little more than five years old and duelling Jake when a bunch of bullies had come to taunt them.

The day that she'd first unleashed her psychic powers?

* * *

_**Upstairs, the viewing box...**_

Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa watched with wide eyes as Destiny stretched out, revealing her once flawless skin marred with glowing red marks, the strong scarlett light shining through her clothes.

Jake noticed, however, that the one completely visible mark, the one on her right arm, was shaped like a dragon. A red serpent like dragon coiling around her arm - an all-to-familiar looking one too.

The Crimson Dragon.

* * *

_**Downstairs, duelling arena...**_

"And the experiment is complete," Sayer murmured, staring up in awe at the adolescent girl that floated above him. "The Crimson Vessel."

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

******EchoGirl: I'm cruel, aren't I?**

**Goldfish: And I'm not plotting world domination.**

**EchoGirl: Really, you're not? That sounds as likely as Sayer/Divine actually not being a total dickhead for once.**

**Goldfish: Language, Echo. Either that or up the rating.**

**EchoGirl: Oh, yeah... my bad.**

**Goldfish: Yes, your bad.**

**EchoGirl: ... **

**Goldfish: Aren't you going to ask your readers to review?**

**EchoGirl: Oh, yeah! Please review and the next chapter should be up soon!**


	36. Two Halves of the Same Soul

EchoGirl: Viola, I have returned.

**Goldfish: Yeah.**

**EchoGirl: And I got great responses for the last chapter!**

**Goldfish: She's been going on about this all day.**

**EchoGirl: Though I admit, that was a very cruel cliff -hanger...**

**Goldfish: It was. Very. Almost as cruel as me.**

**EchoGirl: Oh, be quiet, will you?**

**Goldfish: No.**

**EchoGirl: Anyway, I hope this chapter sits just as well.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**EchoGirl: Wow! You actually did the disclaimer without me telling you to.**

**Goldfish: Actually I've done it a few times.**

**EchoGirl: Really?**

**Goldfish: You just noticed?**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 35**

_**Previously...**_

_"And the experiment is complete," Sayer murmured, staring up in awe at the adolescent girl that floated above him. "The Crimson Vessel."_

* * *

All eyes were trained upon Destiny as she hovered in midair, her arms spread out like some sort of angel, her body glowing with multiple red coiling dragon marks.

Then the wind once again began to pick up, stronger than ever, and this time the four awestruck friends standing in the viewing box had to cling to each other - or more specifically, everyone had to cling to Jake - so as not to be blown away out the empty window only to meet the cold steel floor, with a no doubt terribly thud and a whole load of broken bones, fifty feet below.

A sort of choked gasp emitted from Destiny as she suddenly doubled over in midair, curling into herself like she had been doing not moments earlier.

"Is she in pain?" Mark whispered, still staring wide-eyed at the sight before them. No one answered, they were too shocked and frightened, even, by what they were seeing. Even there Signer parents, with all their wonderful quests and adventures, could never have possibly witnessed what they were witnessing.

At once, with a cry, Destiny straightened out, her back arching with sudden ferociousness that made all the onlookers, except Sayer who was grinning like the lunatic that he was, flinch at the sight of it, her long dual-coloured hair flowing out over her head in slow motion as if she were underwater. What really caught their attention, though, was that Red Destiny Dragon, who was still on the field, seemed to be doing the exact same as its mistress, arching its serpent-like form and rearing its its before, with a shriek, bursting into bright luminous red flames.

"What the..." Vanessa murmured, watching in shock as Red Destiny was completely enveloped in the unnatural flames, curling up into a tight ball before suddenly, in a flash of blinding crimson light, breaking free with an ear-splitting roar. But something was different. The roar, though extremely similar, was different and when the light faded the group could have sworn that, were they not bound with muscle and flesh, their jaws would have hit the floor.

For before them was no longer their friend's beloved ace monster, but instead a creature that they had only ever heard of in the stories that were told to them by their parents.

The Crimson Dragon.

* * *

_**Downstairs, duelling arena...**_

All that Destiny was aware of was that her conciousness had been pushed to the back of her mind. Her head was flooded with images of another time, another life. She saw the five famous dragons - Stardust, Archfiend, Black Rose, Ancient Fairy and Blackfeather - floating in darkness before her. She felt strength in every ounce of her, like she could fight anything at all - even those dreaded Earthbound Immortals or the Three Emperors of Ylliaster that her father had told her about. She felt _free._

Then she felt something being ripped out of her. No. Not something being ripped out of her; herself being ripped out of _something. _Her soul from her body.

She felt oh-so-familiar presence merging with her.

_Red Destiny?_

And suddenly she was transforming, becoming something else, her true self, her natural form.

Power surged through her and she felt at one with Red Destiny. That bit made sense at least, if nothing else did, it explained her bond with the beast - two halves of the same soul, only together could they unleash their true potential.

And she was seeing through the eyes of a dragon. A very particular dragon, no less.

Yep. She was _very_ confused.

Nonetheless, the other half of her soul seemed to know what was going on. With that she let her conciousness once more slip away.

* * *

_**Upstairs, viewing box...**_

"No way," Chris murmured.

"Impossible," Vanessa breathed at the same time.

Destiny's body, the group were no longer sure whether her soul still resided in it or whether it was merely a vessel, hung suspended as the dragon of legend roared its discontent at the still grinning Sayer.

"That guy must have mush for brain," Mark whispered to the others who all nodded in agreement, still awestruck at the magnificent being which they never thought they'd ever see in their entire lifetimes. Sayer just stood there and chuckled at his success while the dragon growled at him.

"He definitely needs to go back to the loony bin," Jake agreed, obviously being eaten by an Earthbound Immortal didn't do the brain _any _good at all if all you could do was laugh in the face of an angry all-powerful deity.

Moments later the man's chuckles errupted into full-blown hysterical laughter.

"Dude," Chris exclaimed, "do sick, evil experiments give this guy a freakin' orgasm or something?"

Despite the situation, Vanessa could not help but roll her eyes. "Only _you _could think of something like that at a time like this, Chris."

Meanwhile, Jake had just surpassed his limits.

"That's it," the blond growled, "I've had enough."

Promptly, he threw the spanner, which he was still holding, at Sayer's head with incredible accuracy (it was all due to those card-throwing lessons from Jack) and, with a grunt, the victim of the 'attack' fell to the ground, wacking his bleeding head on the cold metal floor in the process.

"_**Nice**__ hit!" _Chris congradulated, thoroughly impressed with his friend's aim.

"Whatever," Jake responded.

The four were suddenly thrown off of their feet as another high-pitched roar errupted from the Crimson Dragon and it suddenly soared upwards, crashing through the roof of the building and entering the open air and spreading out its fine, unwebbed wings before fading completely. **(AN: Think of Episode 5, except it's daytime.)**

The gang stared, blinking, for a few moments, wondering what exactly had just happened, before turning their attention back to the duelling arena only to realise that Destiny was no longer suspended but in fact tumbling towards the ground with absolutely nothing to break her impact, Red Destiny had vanished and the duel had been automactically called off due to Sayer's unconcious state.

Thinking quickly, Jake noticed a ladder just underneath their empty window and quickly leapt over the ledge, grabbed the ladder and slid down, not bothering with the rungs, the other's following close behind. They would have simply jumped if they had to, but fifty feet was a long way to the ground - twenty, maybe, but not fifty.

Luckily for them, Destiny was falling in a strange slow motion, a mixture of falling and floating, twisting and turning in the air. Jake reached her landing spot just in time to catch her, the others rushing behind him; all except for Chris, who had headed over to Sayer and pounded the unconcious redhead in the stomach with his pipe wrench before heading over to where his friends surrounded the equally unconcious Destiny.

The first thing they did was check her pulse. Chris, Mark and Vanessa all glanced at Jake who was checking. He gave them a single curt nod. Affirmative. She wasn't dead. They then took the oppurtunity to examine the strange marks, particularly the one on her arm as it was the only one that was completely visible.

It was indeed the Crimson Dragon. It wasn't big but each feature was perfectly imprinted into Destiny's skin: it's slender, serpent-like body wound its way up her forearm, with its tail at the top of the back of her right hand, just below her wrist, and its head was about an inch and a half above her right elbow; its wings were brought in close to its body and two of its claws were visible. It was truly a work of art: the only thing about that was out of place was that its front claw was out of proportion, it was bigger, more emphasised, than all its other features.

"Weird," Mark commented, looking it over.

Vanessa opened her mouth to agree when suddenly the building began to rumble.

Chris's eyes flicked around the arena before finally settling on the others as the building let out another rumble.

"That's not good."

"No, it's not," Jake agreed, beginnig to stand up, still cradling Destiny close to his chest. Her sapphire eyes flickered open just long enough to glance up at the blonde.

"Destiny!" he exclaimed just as her eyes began to close again.

"Don't need... carrying..." she muttered almost inaudibly, "not... a bloody... in... valid..."

With that she drifted once more into unconciousness and all the rest of the group could do was burst out laughing.

"Famous last words," Chris remarked.

"Never one to be the damsel in distress," Mark laughed.

Jake merely tightened his hold on Destiny and instructed the other's to find an exit. As soon as they did, all five (excluding Destiny who was being carried) began to run for it as the building let out even more unhealthy sounding rumbles.

* * *

_**Outside...**_

"Did you guys see that?" Crow exclaimed as the Crimson Dragon faded away into nothingness.

"The Crimson Dragon," Yusei remarked, gazing up at where it had been as the pain of his mark began to fade away along with its glow.

Then the Arcadia Movement Building began to rumble.

"That thing's gonna collapse!" Kalin yelled.

"Aren't Destiny and the others still in there?" Leo asked.

Seconds later, Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa burst from the entrance and ran out onto the street just in time to see their fathers'.

"Dad!" Chris exclaimed, running over. "You are not going to _believe _what just happened in there!"

"Where's Destiny?" Yusei asked, concerned, realising that she hadn't run out with the others.

"Here," Jake replied, heading over and passing the unconcious girl in his arms over to her father, who was still sitting on his runner.

Yusei looked down at the limp form of his daughter before back at the rumbling building which was already beginning to fall. Good thing they hadn't rebuilt this area since it was destroyed by the Earthbound Immortals Ccarayhua and Aslla Piscu.

"Come on," he said, "we have to go before we're all crushed."

Jack nodded and Jake climbed onto the back to the _Wheel of Fortune_ while Vanessa did the same with the _Blackbird _and Mark climbed onto the back of Kalin's runner. Yusei positioned himself so that Destiny sat limply in front of him, leaning back on his chest. His eyes widened for a moment as he noticed a picture of the Crimson Dragon imprinted into his daughter's arm but he ignored it, figuring on asking Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa later. He glanced at Chris who stood awkwardly without any form of transport.

"Get on," he told him, "you can sit where Destiny usually sits."

Chris oblidged and climbed on, not thoroughly comfortable with the awkward position but accepted it none the less. At once the four engines revved simultanious and shot off, the two D-Boards following, just as the Arcadia Movement Headquarters collasped, a certained crazed psychic still inside.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Oh, Destiny, stubborn to the last. Any way, I hope that chapter was okay and I promise to put some more about Destiny's marks in the next one.**

**Goldfish: That would be a good idea.**

**EchoGirl: And I just had to knock Sayer out with tools! Seriously, who could resist? Anyways, please review!**

**Goldfish: Do that.**

**EchoGirl: What's the magic word, Goldfish?**

**Goldfish: There isn't one. Words are inanimate.**

**EchoGirl: I'll sick the cat on you.**

**Goldfish: ... Please?**


	37. Sleeping Dragons

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 36**

It was around 3pm when the four duel runners and two D-Boards came to a halt outside of the hospital. Destiny was still unconcious so it seemed a good place to take her. Hurriedly, the ten arrivals headed inside, Yusei carrying Destiny. Inside everything was at a standstill.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jack asked.

"We're waiting for the emergency power supply to come on," a nurse told them as she approached. She let out a small gasp as she noticed Destiny.

"There was a powercut?" Leo asked, "but we didn't notice anything strange."

"Even that giant dragon that suddenly appeared out of that building that just collapsed?" the nurse responded sarcastically, taking Destiny from Yusei and laying her down on the chairs before beginning to check her over, feeling for her pulse and heartbeat.

"It's daytime, nimrod," Luna added, rolling her eyes at her brother, "of course we wouldn't notice anything."

"There's something strange about that dragon though," the nurse commented as she opened one of Destiny closed eyes, "it's been seen before, apparently, about fifteen/sixteen years ago, and the power cut out then too."

No one replied but merely glanced at one another.

"Come to think of it," the nurse continued, "that dragon looked exactly like these tattooes." She lifted Destiny's right arm to reveal the coiling dragon imbedded into the skin and pointed at the mark which could just be seen on the girl's breastbone.

"How is she?" Yusei interrupted, halting the woman's ramblings of the mysterious dragon.

"I'm not sure," she replied before glancing up at the large group, "how long has she been unconcious for?"

"About fifteen minutes," Jake supplied the approximate length of time.

"Hm," the nurse murmured. "She's got some external injuries but nothing serious as far as I can see. There's no reason for her to be unconcious." She looked up at them, "it's possible that she's in some sort of coma but I can't tell you for sure until the power comes back and we can use the proper equiptment to check."

"That's not good," Chris commented, looking down at his unconcious friend.

"No," Jack agreed, "it's certainly not."

"Will she be okay?" Vanessa asked.

Before any of the adults could reply, all the lights suddenly flicked on.

"Power's up," the nurse announced, signalling for a stretcher to be brought over, "We'll have her checked out now."

_**30 minutes later, emergancy ward...**_

The six adults and four youths waited outside as Destiny was checked over. A doctor emerged from the room and they at once stood to attention.

"Well?" Yusei asked.

"Yeah," Crow nodded, "what's up with Destiny?"

The doctor shook his head. "We don't actually know. It's clear, however, that she's been through a lot in the past hour or so."

"Really?" Jake asked, his voice laced with sarcasm. Vanessa proceeded to elbow the blond in the side, the doctor had no idea what had happened to her after all.

The doctor, however, merely nodded. "She's got multiple lacerations, particularly on the exposed areas of her body like her arms and face, and we had to remove several small shards of glass from the wounds. She's got a few cracked ribs, probably the cause of being hit with force by a pole or such-"

_Probably the tail of Sayer's dragon, _Vanessa concluded.

"-and there's also signs of heavy electrocution, definitely enough to stun if not even to kill, and she also seems to be both mentally and physically exhausted. She's currently comatose, and we're not sure when she'll wake up."

While everyone else's hatred of the deranged psychic increased tenfold, one Chris Kessler merely blinked at the doctor's words.

"Can you repeat that in a language that people actually have a hope of understanding?"

"Basically, she's in a coma," Kalin explained.

"Huh," Chris commented, "can we go see her?"

The doctor nodded and stepped out of the doorway to let them through. "Be careful, though," he warned as they entered, "she's been acting a little strange."

The sight of Destiny lying in a hospital bed was not a pleasant one for the group of Signers (and former Dark Signer) and their children to see. The young, dark-haired duellist had always been strong but lying there amongst all those wires and appliances and monitors, she had never looked smaller or more vulnerable. Slowly they gathered round into a circle around the bed.

She was wearing nothing but a flimsy hospital gown, and the new marks that she had aquired were easily visible through the semi-transparent material. The first one that they noticed was the image of the Crimson Dragon trailing over her collar bone, its tail beginning somewhere the back of her left shoulder and its head resting on her breastbone; it's wings were pulled in close to its body and two of its claws - the front and the back - were visible. There was something strange about the creature's head, however, they noticed, it seemed larger, more emphasised than all the other features.

"Weird," Mark murmured.

Then, suddenly, Destiny shifted, her right arm flying upwards to head and eyelids twitching.

"See what I mean?" the doctor asked from behind them.

"Crimson..." she muttered, her head tossing from side to side on the pillow, "crimson..."

She hushed after a moment and rolled onto her side, dragging the wires and machines that they were attached to with her. The blankets pulled away as she rolled and revealed the marks on her back, clearly visible through the flimsy green gown.

There was the tail of the mark on her collar bone just peeking round her left shoulder and there was another dragon - the Crimson Dragon again - wrapping its red serpent-like form around her waist, its head and tail just disappearing round her hips to her stomach while this time the wings were spread out and particularly emphasised.

It was the other mark on her back, however, situated between her shoulder blades, that truly caught their attention - particularly that of the four Signer's present.

"Isn't that..." Leo began.

Yusei was the one that responded, "yes. That's the full mark of the Crimson Dragon. The one that appears when all our marks transfer to one Signer."

Just to double check, Yusei, Jack, Crow and Luna all pulled back their sleeves to make sure that their marks were still present. They were.

"Personally," Jack began, "I'd like to know what exactly is going on here. How did Destiny suddenly get all these marks?"

All of the adults gazes turned to the four young witnesses.

"I dunno," Chris responded with a shrug, "Sayer was saying some things to Destiny and she just snapped and started floating into the air and getting all those weird marks and her eyes were glowing."

"Then Red Destiny Dragon caught fire and turned into the Crimson Dragon," Vanessa took over, "and Jake knocked Sayer out with a spanner and it flew away and Destiny started falling and now she's like this."

"It's not the first time either," Jake admitted, watching Destiny's tormented sleep. All eyes were suddenly on him. "I've seen these marks on her once before," he lifted his violet eyes to look at the nine expectant pairs all staring at him, "when she first unlocked her psychic powers."


	38. Revelations

**EchoGirl: Whoo! After a four day camping trip in the middle of nowhere I'm finally back!**

**Goldfish: Good thing too, I never got anything to eat!**

**EchoGirl: You seemed to have enough energy to somehow get out of your bowl though because _somehow _when I got back there just _happened_ to be world domination plans littered all over my room!**

**Goldfish: And?**

**EchoGirl: WHO THE HELL TRIES TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD USING ELEPHANTS, PINK SPRAY PAINT AND A GIANT TOASTER?**

**Goldfish: People just don't appreciate utter genius these days.**

**EchoGirl: (looks at world domination plans) Genius? I call this total idiocy.**

**Goldfish: Coming from you!**

**EchoGirl: Excuse me? Do you want me to tell the readers why there was no disclaimer for the last chapter?**

**Goldfish: ... Please don't humiliate me like this...**

**EchoGirl: Goldfish heard that I was leaving for a few days and got so happy that he started swimming in circles really, really fast and rammed full speed into the side of the bowl and knocked himself unconcious.**

**Goldfish: ... I hate you.**

**EchoGirl: Excellent. Now where's that disclaimer?**

**Goldfish: (grumbling) EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**EchoGirl: Perfect. Enjoy!**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 37**

Destiny moaned as she came to, blinking furiously as her vision adjusted. She glanced at her surroundings.

"What the?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes, "where am I?"

_In your mind, _a response echoed in her head.

"Huh?" she asked, looking around.

She was in what could be described as outer space, floating suspended in an endless pitch black starry sky. She gasped, straightening up and wrapping her arms around herself. What was this? She felt a familiar presence beside her. She spun around.

"Red Destiny?" she asked the red and white dragon floating by her side. It turned its majestic head towards her and nodded. She reached out with one hand to stroke the beast's scaly muzzle, immediately jerking her arm back when she saw the dragon mark that decorated it. "How...?"

_The psychic madman did not know what he was dealing with, _her dragon's voice sounded within her head, _he unleashed our true power._

"Our..." Destiny whispered, her voice hoarse and cracking, "...true power?"

_Yes, _Red Destiny responded, nudging her marked arm with its nose, _this is who we truly are._

She lifted her arm to examine it, bringing it close to her face. As she did so she noticed the same mark on her collar bone. The Crimson Dragon. Wait, that couldn't be right...

"The Crimson Dragon?" she questioned, "but that's... that's impossible."

She watched as Red Destiny shook its proud head from side to side in an rather humorous, almost exasperated motion, before looking downwards.

_Just watch._

She complied and also tilted her head downwards before her eyes widened and she gasped at the scene playing out beneath them.

Five dragons hovered in a perfect pentagonal position, their eyes fixed on the centre space between them. Five very familiar dragons: Stardust Dragon, Red Dragon Archfiend, Blackfeather Dragon, Ancient Fairy Dragon and Black Rose Dragon. The Signer beasts. Then each one began harnessing their individual power.

First was Stardust. Destiny watched in awe as it gathered a mass of pure, sparkling blue-white aura around itself and roaring its intent to the starlit ebony heavens. As it did so, the enlarged head mark of the Crimson Dragon appeared in the centre of the dragons' pentagon and as the mark lit and shone with a scarlet light, Destiny felt the scorching sensation of the dragon mark on her collar reacting with its own red glow. Next came Black Rose with a dark pink/purple aura and when it roared the mark of the front claw appeared and Destiny's arm began to throb along with her collar. Then came Red Dragon Archfiend, its aura a vivid scarlet and the Crimson Dragon's spread wings appearing along with the head and front claw as Destiny gasped when her waist and small of her back began to burn. Ancient Fairy Dragon came next, its aura a calming azure, and with it appeared the mark of the back claw as well as a furious burning sensation on her thigh. Finally it was Blackfeather's turn, a fiery orange aura this time, and at last came the final part of the Crimson Dragon's anatomy - the tail; Destiny closed her eyes and braced herself as pain consumed her foot and calf.

She was practically alight with the glow of the five marks and beside her she could feel Red Destiny tremble with excitement.

_Hello? In serious amount of pain here!_

_My apologies, mistress. Our birth is, I find, one of our most memorable experiences._

_Our... birth?_

The dragon didn't respond but merely continued to watch the scene playing out before them. Destiny shrugged and did the same.

At last, the curved body mark of the Crimson Dragon appeared; forming the full mark **(AN: you know, the same mark that appeared on Yusei and Jack's backs whenever all the Signer power is transferred to them?)** in the starlit darkness.

Destiny could only just surpress a scream as her back arched with the activation of the final mark that marred her body. Red Destiny pressed its face against her seemingly tiny physique, as in the vastness of dark space amongst only massive draconic creatures she did indeed look tiny and fragile, supporting her and offering comfort. She wrapped her arms around its head and buried her face in the area beneath its eye. After what seemed like an eternity both pulled back and returned to watching their 'birth'.

To Destiny's surprise, the full mark of the dragon had disappeared - though the marks on her body still burned - and in its place was what appeared to be an egg. Well, not really an egg, more of a large glittery red blob of slime with something unrecognisable, though snake-like in appearance, inside it. She could practically feel its thumping heartbeat - it was strong. Unconciously, her hand reached out to rest on Red Destiny's long neck.

Slowly, the slime (at least it _looked _like slime) began to melt away and none other than Red Destiny emerged from the red goo. Shocked, the sapphire-eyed duellist looked at her companion. The majestic beast did not respond in any way other than to continue watching. Slowly, Destiny turned her head back to the playing itself out beneath them.

_Please tell me this is all just a really weird dream, _she begged mentally. But something in her subconciousness was telling her that it wasn't.

Then, unexpectedly, the five Signer dragons attacked the newborn, the auras that they had used to create it streaming towards it out of their mouths in streams. No, Destiny corrected herself as she watched this other Red Destiny absorb the hits and grow larger and stronger each time, feeding it. She could feel the power being fed to it, the emotions, the wisdom, the independence, the ability to think and feel, to see and touch, to opinionate and know, to hate and to love - everything that made up a person, a being.

_That power and mind being given to me, _her Red Destiny's voice echoed within her mind, _the soul that they are giving me... is you._

"M-me?" Destiny whispered watching as now, with this soul as her beast had put it, Red Destiny burst into crimson flames and became the god that her father had told her stories about. The Crimson Dragon.

And, with that, she finally understood. She and Red Destiny were one being - the Crimson Dragon - one being split into two bodies, two sides of the same coin, two halves of one soul and only when their split spirits were merged as one could they be their true self. Apart they were strong, together they were undefeatable but combined they were a god.

"I understand," she murmured, stroking her other half's neck with the same love and tenderness that she had always shown her beast, finally completely understanding her complete devotion to the dragon over all the other monsters in her deck, whom she all valued equally, "we are one and the same. Two halves of a divided soul," she twisted her suspended body to completely face her dragon counterpart, "will you show me our memories?"

With a small dip of its majestic head, Red Destiny complied and the young duellist's mind was flooded with images, sounds, smells, touches and thoughts, memories of her immortal soul. Closing her eyes, she began to relive everything she and Red Destiny had ever experienced: the original battle against the Earthbound Immortal's and when they had locked the said creatures away; the quests of every generation of the five Signers, all the way up to the adventures of her parents and the rest of the team; even their experiences were they had been separated, with her as the Crimson Vessel as she was now, always the child of two Signers she learnt. She relived everything all the way up to her birth as Destiny Fudo, her current life.

"Ugh," she muttered, holding her head in one hand, "too much info. I have a _killer _headache."

She swore that she could hear Red Destiny chuckle through their mental link.

_Shut up. It's not funny. _You _did this to me._

_No, _came the response, _that nutter psychic did. If it wasn't for him activating your abilities and power and thus your memories we would not be here._

_Damn Sayer. Did I ever say how much I hate that guy? Hey! _She was struck by a sudden ingenius idead, _can we eat him?_

There was a rather long pause.

_...What?_

**_You know, _Destiny explained mentally, _like Ccarayhua did - _though she couldn't help but find it a little disturbing that she knew all the Earthbound Immortals by name - _combine and become the Crimson Dragon and just gobble him._**

_If you want to become a cannibal, go ahead._

_I meant doing it together as the Crimson Dragon, not me just doing it as myself! I'm not a cannibal!_

Red Destiny hung its head as if in exasperation. _It takes a lot of energy for us to combine and, as it did today, you shall end up comatose. A god does not belong on a world with humans. That is why we are separated._

_You're such a killjoy._

There was silence for a few moments before Destiny snickered at the strange conversation she and her dragon had just had. Then she remembered something. She was in a coma trapped in the confines of her own mind.

_When can I go back?_

_You can go back now, _came her other half's unhelpful reply.

_Yeah, but how?_

_Only when all five Signers are present around you, _came the response, _their marks will react with yours and you will be drawn back to the world you currently reside in. Your memories and knowledge of the Crimson Dragon will remain with you._

_Well that's gonna take some time, _Destiny thought, remembering that in all her almost fourteen years she had never once looked into her mother's eyes.

_Have no fear, child, _another familiar voice spoke and Destiny spun around to see none other than her dear White Magician of Faith, _the third Signer will come and you will be freed, _the magician bowed her cloaked head, _Crimson Vessel._

_That's me, _Destiny thought to herself, _the Crimson Vessel, half the soul of the Crimson Dragon, the half that will live as a mortal amongst humans and when I die my spirit will merge with my dragon's and we shall become, once again, our true self until I am called back to Earth and the cycle begins again._

Resting her weight against Red Destiny's serpentine form and staring up and the infinite starry blackness that surrounded them she murmured, half to herself and half to the monster spirits that inhabited the darkness with her, "then I shall wait for her."

* * *

**EchoGirl: That chapter was quite confusing and took a long time to write.**

**Goldfish: Ya think?**

**EchoGirl: But it's very important and it was fun to do. Anyway, you know what to do.**

**Goldfish: Review!**

**EchoGirl: Exactly. I'm hoping to get to 600 before this story's up.**

**Goldfish: And we'd really appreciate it if you reviewed. It encourages Echo to write more and update sooner.**

**EchoGirl: My, my, you are being helpful just now.**

**Goldfish: (muttering) Just because you threatened me with the cat...**

**Cat: Meow.**

**Goldfish: AH! Get it away! GET IT AWAY!**


	39. Waiting for Her

**EchoGirl: Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it, the suspense has been really building up!**

**Goldfish: Uh-huh.**

**EchoGirl: Well, enjoy! Where's my disclaimer?**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 38**

Nine-year-old Violet Atlas was scared and confused. She had never understood the true concept of medical science before and this was all so new and strange to her. Maybe, if the situation had been different, she would be her usual peppy self firing questions at the adults and older children at a rate faster than any duel runner; but it wasn't. Nothing was happy or joyful as it had been just the week before and their was no anticipation or excitement for the upcoming WRGP. The atomosphere was thick with worry and stress and everyone was distant.

The reason behind all of this was lying on a hospital bed right in front of her eyes. It had been three days since the glittery red dragon - the Crimson Dragon of the bedtime stories that she had been told by her father and uncles - had shaken all of New Domino with its earsplitting cry and three days since Destiny had been admitted into the hospital, her body riddled with illustrations of that same dragon.

And she still hadn't woken up.

It scared Violet to see her like this; so frail and vulnerable, she looked nothing like the strong, proud duellist that the younger girl admired. She had always idolised Destiny, much to her father's irritation, she and Vanessa were two of the strongest women - girls - that she knew and she looked up to them more than she did to any of the other female's she was acquainted with, her honoury aunt's and perhaps even her clumsy, happy-go-lucky mother. Not that she didn't love all of these women, particularly her mother, dearly but the two girls, Destiny especially, gave her so much to admire and aspire to be.

And here she was, lying comatose on a hospital bed wearing an green hospital gown with tubes and wires attached to her, monitoring her every breath and heartbeat. Very slowly, Violet reached out to trace the dragon imprint that coil its way around the older girl's arm. She dared a glance at her brother, who was sitting on a chair by the edge of the bed staring intently at Destiny's face. He had become protective of her in the few days that she had remained asleep, trapped in her own mind the doctors had said to the adults, and, being the typical nine-year-old girl that she was, dreaming of fairy tales and happily-ever-afters, could only find it incredibly sweet. Destiny just had to wake up now or else her brother would never get his happy ending!

"Will she wake up?" she asked, directing her question at the room's only other occupant though her eyes never left Destiny's pale, motionless form.

"I don't know," came Yusei's voice from where he was leaning against the wall, watching the two Atlas children as they crowded around his daughter's bedside, "her body's fine now, but she just won't wake up even though she's suppose to. Even the doctor's don't know why."

An almost inaudible mutter of "I hate Sayer" sounded from where Jake was sitting and Yusei, despite the fact that he was not comfortable with such dark emotions, couldn't agree more. That bastard better have died when the Arcadia Movement Headquarters collapsed, or if he didn't he would be wishing that he _had._

"At least she isn't having nightmares any more," came Violet's quiet voice. It was true that Destiny was no longer tossing and turning as she had been for the first two days of her admittance, as if she were reliving experiences of some sort **(AN: In Destiny mind reliving her memories didn't take long, in real life it did)**. It had confused the doctors to no end. Yet now she was peaceful and unmoving, like one who is in a coma ought to be.

Yusei didn't like it. She was in perfect physical condition now, her cracked ribs were healing well and the electrocution that she had suffered from at Sayer's hand had apparently done no permenant damage. She was suppose to be awake! The whole situation reminded him all too well of Akiza's coma after Sayer's first 'death'. And, once again, Sayer was the source of the problem. Damn that man! After five hundred feet to his apparent doom and being eaten by an Earthbound Immortal was that man dense enough not to realise that he wasn't wanted? Not now and not ever. He had already messed with Akiza, why Destiny now too?

_Revenge, _he answered his own question. And what exactly did these marks have to with it? Why had the Crimson Dragon appeared and why was her body covered in drawings of the said beast? He had heard from Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa that the marks had suddenly appeared on Destiny, she had begun to glow, floated up into the air and Red Destiny Dragon had suddenly burst into flames, becoming the Crimson Dragon and soared into the sky before disappearing, short-circuting the entire city's power in the process.

_Is this the power that Sherry was talking about?_

Ugh, all these questions were making his head hurt.

The door suddenly burst open as none other than Jack Atlas entered the room **(AN: You didn't think his kids where there alone now, did you?)**, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand and three tubs of ramen in the other. Despite the situation, Yusei couldn't help but roll his eyes. How typical of Jack. The blond Signer proceeded to put the coffee and one of the ramen tubs down before tossing the others to his son and daughter. The sapphire-eyed duellist snorted, living with Jack for so long he had grown to practically despise both coffee and ramen. It was apparent, however, that at least the ramen fettish ran in the family.

After a moment, Jack's usual cold amethyst gaze focused on Destiny, he looked concerned, upset even. He _had _known Destiny all her life after all.

"No change," he commented. Yusei moved to stand beside him and shook his head.

"None at all."

With a small sigh, he walked over and sat down at the foot Destiny's bed. Through the white sheets that covered her, his hand brushed against her knee and suddenly his right arm was alight with a familiar burning sensation. At once he tugged off his glove and pushed up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal the glowing head mark of the dragon. His head immediately jerked up to look at his unconcious daughter only to see that, as he suspected, the mark on her collar, the one where the dragon's head was most prominent, was also glowing red. He twisted his head to look at Jack, who frowned before walking forward and, standing between Jake and Violet, gently touched Destiny's arm. His mark also began to glow and, through the covers, all four of the room's occupants could just make out the glow of the girl's mark peeking out around her hips as the mark that emphasised the dragon's wings was mostly situated on her back.

"What is this?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"We should get the others," Yusei declared.

It was less than half an hour later that Crow, Luna, Leo, Kalin, Bruno, Chris, Mark and Vanessa were all crammed into the tiny hospital room gathered around Destiny's bed watching with wide eyes as two of Destiny's marks glowed in sync with Jack and Yusei's. Knowing what they had to do, Crow and Luna stepped forward and brushed their fingers against Destiny's unconcious body. The marks on Destiny left thigh and right foot and shin/calf. Only the one on her arm didn't activate.

"Hey! Maybe this is the key to waking her up!" Crow exclaimed.

"That's what I thought," Yusei murmured, "but..."

"She hasn't woken up yet," Violet's quiet voice interrupted them, "it's like she's waiting for someone and she can't wake up until their here."

"Yeah," Vanessa realised. "She must somehow be related to the Crimson Dragon and she needs all of you to wake her up. All of you that carry the dragon's mark."

The twins (Chris and Mark, not Luna and Leo) nodded their agreement and Jake opened his mouth to speak, "she's waiting for the last Signer to arrive."

Yusei, Crow, Jack, Luna, Leo and Bruno all looked at each other and said the one single word that answered everything.

"Akiza."

"But how do we find her?" Leo asked, "it's impossible, she could be anywhere!"

"Nothing's impossible," Luna said quietly.

"Not true!" Chris announced loudly, turning to face his teacher and honoury aunt, one finger raised in the air, "have you ever tried slamming a revolving door?"

It was as everyone stared dumbly at him that the door once again burst open but this time it was a very panicked Hideo and Setsuko that stood in the doorway.

"What happened?" Setsuko gasped. "Is she all right?"

"We only just heard about her condition," Hideo added, as if ashamed of himself for not coming to see his only granddaughter sooner.

"We were just about to leave to visit Hideo's brother and his wife in Danson City when we heard?"

"Where that?" Kalin asked, truly confused. He had never heard of the place.

"It's where I'm from," Hideo explained, "it's only about two hundred miles away from New Domino, and it's always very sunny. Akiza was born there, we moved here when she was four years old. We haven't been back there in almost twenty years."

As this information played itself around in Yusei's head an idea began to form in his mind.

"You should get going then," he told them.

"But with Destiny in this condition-" Setsuko tried to object but was cut off.

"You going to this Danson City may be the only way for Destiny to wake up," Yusei told them, "and if my assumption is correct then you'll get a very pleasant surprise when you'll go there."

Slowly the other members of the room grasped at what Yusei was saying, and were all (secretly in Jack and Jake's case) impressed. It made perfect sense. Hideo and Setsuko, however, will still confused and clueless.

"Oh, and," Yusei added as an afterthought, he bent down to try and find the backpack that Destiny had had with her when she had fought Sayer and removed from it the mask of the Black Rose - now split in two from Destiny impact on the ground when the psycho psychic had duelled her, "take this."

Having an idea, but still uncertain, as to what the turbo duelling champion meant, the couple accepted the split mask and after looking at Destiny and, in Setsuko's case, stroking the girl's cheek, they left and returned home for the bags they had packed and got in the car, heading for Danson City where, as Yusei had said, they would indeed recieve a surprise.

Back at the hospital, the group could only hope that Yusei's suspicions were correct. After all, after thirteen long years a family reunion seemed almost necessary.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well how was it? I know I rushed it a little towards the end, but all the same, I hope you liked it. (squeals in excitement) Aki's return is getting closer and closer! And now, you know what to do...**

**Goldfish: Review!**

**EchoGirl: Exactly, or I'll set Goldfish on you. Or rather, I'll set his plan which included elephants, pink spray paint and the giant toaster on you... or maybe the one with marshmallows and a Stardust Dragon plushie...**

**Goldfish: Stop selling out my plans, damn you!**

**EchoGirl: Oopsies. My bad.**


	40. Izinski Family Reunion

**EchoGirl: Whoo! Forty chapters! *does a happy dance* I had no idea the story would get this long.**

**Goldfish: *rolls eyes* Freak.**

**EchoGirl: When you're not evil and plotting world domination you're always so boring and dreary. Honestly. You're like my dark half or something.**

**Goldfish: Oh, what are you rambling about this time, Echo? And on the note of world domination...**

**EchoGirl: No! Do not start with the world domination thing! Just, for once, leave it and do the disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: (muttering) I never get my fun. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**EchoGirl: Exactly. Now enjoy!**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 39**

Akiza was puzzled, she had been puzzled for the last three days ever since her mark had begun to glow for the first time in over thirteen years. She had so many questions that she couldn't answer. Was the world once again in iminent danger? Had one of the other Signers been hurt? What if something had happened to Yusei or Destiny?

No, she told herself, trying to calm herself down before she started hyperventilating, she couldn't think like that; it would break her.

"Aki!" Jenna called as she walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa beside her friend, "did you hear the news?"

Akiza shook her head. "What news?"

"Latest from New Domino City," the brunette told her, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV, immediately flicking to the news channel. "Apparently there was a massive power cut three days ago there and no one knows what caused it. There's been no news because they only just got it fixed. They were running on the emergancy power this whole time."

_"And now," _the voice of the reporter sitting at the desk announced, _"live from New Domino City on the recent unknown powercut, over to you, Angela."_

The picture changed from the studio to the face of none other than Angela Rains, all prepped up and ready to annoy the living hell out of Akiza. However, the former Black Rose couldn't help but notice the unrecognisable rubble of what had to be a collasped building in the background behind the intolerable blonde. Had their been an earthquake or something? But Domino had never had an earthquake before, the closest it had had was the Zero Reverse at it was man-made...

_"Thank you, Jerry," _her attention snapped back to the TV as the blonde began to speak, eager to hear the entire story, _"as you can now see the power has been returned to normal after all the city's energy was suddenly cut off for unknown and unexplained reasons. The only possible answer to the question of the powercut is right behind me." _She looked back over her shoulder as if to check that the pile of unrecognisable rubble was still there. _"The abandoned Arcadia Movement building, the headquarters to a mysterious group of so-called 'psychic duellists' who alledgedly disappeared over fifteen years ago." _Now this really caught Akiza's attention. The Arcadia Movement, her old home? Sayer, she remembered his visit a few nights prior all too vividly, did he have something to do with this? Her focus snapped back to the television as Angela once again began to talk.

_"It was seen, however, by witnesses that just before the building began to collapse an enormous red dragon was seen emerging from the roof. It is widely believed that the appearance of this mysterious creature was the cause of the powercut."_

Akiza was frozen to her spot on the couch. A massive red dragon just appearing out of nowhere? Unconciously she covered her mark with her other hand, stroking it gently. Was it possible...?

Her unvoiced question was answered when a small video clip appeared on the screen. It was blurred and shaky, as if it had been taken from the phone of a terrifed, yet awestruck, bystander but the violet-haired psychic didn't care. There it was on the screen, rising in full glory out of the crumbling building, her ally and deity, the divine being that had chosen her as one of its five warriors, the Crimson Dragon.

She was too shocked to listen as Angela continued to babble, something useless about people being in the building when it collapsed and a duel going on at the time.

_Wait a sec, backtrack! A _duel_? While a building was collapsing? Who the hell would do that? _the answer was obvious in her mind, _Sayer. _He had been known to go to extremes. Awakening her full psychic powers during a duel with a Dark Signer and risking the fate of the world was a prime example. Then she remembered a snippet of the conversation they'd had just before he'd left her apartment.

_"It is of no matter whether you join me or not. I have a new target now."_

_At once she knew to whom he was referring._

_"The Witch of Dark Destiny?"_

The realisation struck Akiza like a knife and she let out a tiny exclamation of horror, her hand moving instantly from her arm to her mouth. He had been in that building duelling a child - no, not duelling, _testing. _He had been testing the Witch of Dark Destiny, pushing her to her absolute limits and somehow the Crimson Dragon had entered into the fray and the building had collapsed.

Sayer, his former pupil found she couldn't care less about him. What worried her, however, was the witch. What if she hadn't made it out? What if she was dead, as Sayer had said he wanted her to be? Her anxiety, the violet-haired woman thought, was unreasonable. Why should she be so worried about this girl? She wasn't her mother, or even remotely related to the impostor who had stolen her old clothes and mask. Yet, she could not help but remember how the girl and seemed so upset and fragile, sobbing uncontrollably into her arms; even if it was just a dream. That child had somehow reached into her broken heart and now possessed a space in one of its shattered pieces. How, not even Akiza herself knew. Perhaps it was the shared burden of the mask that had bonded them together.

_"...yet so far no bodies have been found amongst the rubble and all occupants of the building are believed to have escaped," _Angela's voice informed. It was only then that the third Signer realised that she hadn't been breathing.

Jenna glanced at her, one chestnut eyebrow raised.

"You got any idea what's going on?" she asked, "that your special 'Blood Dragon' or something on TV?"

"Crimson Dragon," Akiza corrected somewhat irritably, "and yes, it is," before Jenna could ask anything else she added, "and no, it's nothing important."

On the contary, the only thought passing through her mind was, _shit, this has got to be important._

Jenna held up her hands in mock defeat before picking up a magazine and flicking through it muttering something about how all the fun stuff always happens in Domino. She got that right, for one. It was then that the brunette suddenly remembered something, and turned to her best friend who was still lost in her own thoughts.

"Hey, Aki?" she asked.

"Hm?" Akiza responded, turning her head towards her.

"Isn't it your uncle's birthday today?"

Instantly, Akiza shot out of her seat and was pulling on shoes, grabbing for the already wrapped present that was on table.

"Oh, crud, I completely forgot!" she glanced at the clock, "I was expected to be there ten minutes ago!"

"Good thing it's close then," Jenna said, turning back to her magazine, "have fun."

* * *

**_At Akiza's uncle's house..._**

"Sorry I'm late," Akiza apologised when her cousin Lilith opened the door.

"Oh, no, it's fine," the older woman replied, "mom and dad were waiting for you," she giggled, "we have some _special guests._"

_Oh, great, _Akiza thought, rolling her eyes, _Aunt Kayla better not be playing matchmaker again._

**Catching her younger cousin's drift, Lilith shook her head. "It's nothing like that," she explained, "I can't tell you who it is, though. It's a surprise."**

"So I know them?" the former witch questioned as she was led into the house.

"Sure do," Lilith giggled as she led Akiza into the living room where her aunt, uncle and the two _special guests _were.

"Happy birthday, Uncle Ho-" but she never got to finish her sentence as she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of china hitting the floor and smashing into a thousand pieces and the whisper - "Akiza" - of two voices. Two long lost yet very familiar, unforgettable voices. The gift she had intended to give her uncle slipped through her fingers as she turned around to stare into two very familiar sets of brown eyes.

When she finally spoke her voice was quiet, hoarse, and the words were thick with emotion; the unmistakable weight of tears was gathering in her large brown eyes.

"Mom? Dad?"

* * *

**EchoGirl: MWAHAHAHAHAHA! I just love to torture you, don't I?**

**Goldfish: Yes, you've got some sort of cliffhanger fettish. It's very disturbing.**

**EchoGirl: You're one to talk! World domination plotting on an hourly basis, _hello_? Besides, you're a goldfish, how exactly _can _you take over the world?**

**Goldfsh: Are you discriminating against me because I am fish? Fish can take over the world!**

**EchoGirl: Fish are also very tasty with a very large variety of sauces. Especially to cats.**

**Goldfish: You wouldn't...**

**EchoGirl: *grins maliciously and lifts cat to look in bowl***

**Cat: Meow.**

**Goldfish: GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!**

**EchoGirl: (laughing hysterically) I will never get over this! Anyway please review! If you don't you have to fish-sit Goldfish for an entire week. Without the cat.**

**Cat: Meow.**

**EchoGirl: Oh, yes, and I promise you that the long awaited family reunion _will _be in the next chapter and that I will try to get it up ASAP.**


	41. A Mother's Instinct

**EchoGirl: WHOO! I HAVE OVER 500 REVIEWS! *run around the room while doing a happy dance***

**Goldfish: You don't say.**

**EchoGirl: *glares* Sarcasm is the last resort of the imaginatively bankrupt.**

**Goldfish: *blinks* I have no idea what you just said.**

**EchoGirl: That makes sense. All you ever think about is WDTAHR.**

**Goldfish: WDTAHR?**

**EchoGirl: World Domination and Total Anhilihation of the Human Race.**

**Goldfish: WDTAHR... I like it!**

**EchoGirl: You would. Anyways, sorry about the really long break. I've been busy lately.**

**Goldfish: Yeah, we know.**

**EchoGirl: Can't you just do the disclaimer and quit bugging me?**

**Goldfish: Bugging you is fun. And so is planning WDTAHR.**

**EchoGirl: Just do the damn disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Happy? Now back to plotting WDTAHR...**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 40**

Akiza could hardly believe her eyes. Just ten feet away from her sat none other than Hideo and Setsuko Izinski, the parents that she'd abandoned almost fourteen years earlier. Now, as she knelt on the floor, one hand clutching at her pounding heart, she couldn't even bring herself to look them in the eye.

They were disappointed - she knew it, they had to be - after all, it wasn't the first time she had turned her back on them. At least this time she wasn't screaming bloody murder at them yet, she couldn't help but feel that would be easier for her to deal with. Anything was better than the shame that she was drowning in at that very moment. Shame of leaving without a trace, shame of ignoring her duties as a mother, of abandoning her friends and no doubt terrifing her parents.

When she finally did look up, the tears which had been forced back for so long were streaming down her fair cheeks and she made no attempt to stop them. She merely adverted her eyes from her parents shocked expressions and looked back down at the floor, her head hanging low and shoulders slumping.

In a moment Setsuko was on the carpet before her, taking Akiza's face into her hands and brushing away her daughter's tears, despite the fact that she too was crying - crying for what she had lost, fourteen years of her only daughter's life, her granddaughter's entire existence. She wrapped her arms around Akiza's trembling form and brought her into a motherly embrace, one she'd longed to give for many years. Then Hideo was with them, enfolding both his wife and child in his arms, making no attempt to hide his own tears.

It was truly a sight to behold, the relatives who also occupied the room could not help but think, a lost family being reunited. A heartwarming scene.

After what seemed like hours, the family finally pulled apart though they remained on the floor.

"My little rose," Setsuko whispered, smiling as she caressed her daughter's cheek.

"Mom," Akiza croaked, her voice breaking. She felt a hand on her shoulder and smiled sadly at the aging man next to her, "Daddy."

"Akiza."

Akiza's only response was to sob and throw her arms around her father's neck. She had not realised how much she had missed them. Her parents. At that moment she was struck with a sudden relevation.

Her _parents. _She was a parent too. She hadn't told either her mother or her father about Destiny before she'd disappeared - she'd left only an enigmatic letter which hardly offered any explanation at all. Did they know about her? Their granddaughter?

Hideo, at that moment, also remembered something. What Yusei had said before insisted that he and Setsuko in fact go to Danson City when they were prepared to stay in New Domino out of concern for their comatose granddaughter.

_"You going to Danson City is the only way for Destiny to wake up," _he had told them, _"and if my assumption is correct you'll get a very pleasant surprise when you go there."_

What the champion duellist had said at the time had had Hideo completely stumped, but he was right. He had found Akiza, his daughter, his darling rose. But how had Fudo worked it out? That Akiza was here in Danson, his home city? Replaying all the information in his head, Hideo could only conclude that it made sense. Danson City was where Akiza had been born and she had spent the first few years of her life here. She had friends, family, who loved her and had no idea of her traumatic past or of her mysterious destiny as a Signer of the Crimson Dragon. Or of her secret daughter. Then he remembered what Yusei had given him - the mask of the Black Rose. Why? Could that mask possibly be the key to making Akiza return home? If she knew what kind of condition her daughter was in and that she had the ability to wake her up?

This whole experience felt all-too-familiar to the ageing senator. Once again someone he cared about was in a coma, trapped in slumber (or in Destiny's case a nightmare, he had been told how she had writhed and tossed), and once again it seemed only one particular person could awake them. And, once again, he was the one playing messenger. Things never seemed to change.

Momentarily pushing those thoughts from his mind, he buried his face in Akiza's short violet hair; oh, how long it had been since he had held her in his arms. But he had to tell her about Destiny and what had happened to her. She deserved to know and hopefully she would return. After all, it is a mother's instinct to protect her child. Looking over his daughter's head, he made eye contact with Setsuko. Her brown eyes were questioning, clearly she was thinking along the same lines as him wondering whether or not they should produce the broken mask and show it to Akiza. Yusei had said that would be all it would take for her to return. Hideo nodded to her and very slowly she went to her bag and took out the two halves of a phantom-like mask.

He pulled away from Akiza and grasped her shoulders.

"I've missed you, Daddy," she told him.

"I've missed you, Akiza," he told her before his eyes moved back to his wife who was walking back towards them. "Akiza," he began, suddenly serious, "have you seen the news?"

Akiza, in her shock and wonder, had completely forgotten about the news report she had seen not half an hour earlier. The collapse of the Arcadia Movement and the sudden appearance of the Crimson Dragon, how could she forget? She nodded at her father, her teary almond shaped brown eyes clouded with confusion, what exactly was he getting at?

"And you know about the Witch of Dark Destiny?" he asked. Her eyes widened suddenly. Had her earlier assumption been correct? Had the Witch of Dark Destiny been in the building - no doubt with Sayer - when it collapsed. Was she, dare she say it, _dead?_

Setsuko had reached them and knelt down beside her husband and daughter, passing the two halves of the mask over to thier former owner. Akiza swore for a second that her heart had stopped beating. This was proof. The young psychic that through one dream she had grown so attached to (why, she did not even pretent to know) had indeed been in the building that she had once called home with who could be regarded as one of the world's most dangerous men when it had fallen at the hands of an Aztec god.

Blinking in disbelief she stared at the mask which held so many secrets, memories, those of her alter ego, the Black Rose, and now those of the Witch of Dark Destiny as well.

"Is she...?" the former witch could not bring herself to speak the word. _Dead. Did Sayer kill her, murder her as he swore he would?_

To her immense relief Hideo shook his head. "She's in a coma, though," he told her, "much like you were," his voice dropped slightly when he spoke the next words, speaking so low that only Akiza and Setsuko could hear him. "She summoned that dragon."

Were it not for the muscles and skin holding her face together, Akiza's jaw would have hit the ground. Someone summoned the Crimson Dragon? But that was impossible! Unless you were a Signer, but even then all the power of the other Signers had to be transferred to one person. How in the name of every Earthbound Immortal had one girl been able to summon such a divine and powerful creature? It made no sense...

"I suppose it comes from her being the child of two Signers," Hideo mused, but Akiza heard him and those few words shocked her to the core. The child of... two Signers? But how? The only two Signers that she was aware had ever had a child together were her and Yusei and... oh.

_No, _Akiza tried to convince herself as the pieces all began to fall into place. The witch's youthful age, her attachment to her, the Crimson Dragon's appearance, Sayer desire for revenge, _how was it possible?_

Slowly, she turned to her father, her eyes begging him to deny what seemed so logical. It all made sense. _Please tell me she's not, please!_

After what seemed like hours, he nodded, confirming her fears. How had she been so blind? Sayer's words rang in her ears.

_"Truth be told, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet."_

He had wanted to use her, kill her. He had _sworn _to kill her! He had even tried to go through with it! All for the sake of his revenge...

Then she remembered what her father had said, specifically _one _word that her father had said: _coma. _Destiny, her Destiny, was in a coma, trapped within the confines of her own mind. With this thought, her eyes met her father's.

"Will she wake up?" she asked, both her eyes and voice betraying the fear and panic she felt within.

"Only in the presence of all five Signers will she awaken," Hideo told her, remembering what Yusei had said, placing a hand on her cheek and pushing back her bangs, her voice incredibly tender, "she's waiting for you."

Those had been the words she'd needed to hear all along, that Destiny, the one she'd left for, was awaiting her return. Her daughter _needed _her and it was a mother's instinct to protect her child. And that instinct was not something Akiza could ignore, its hold on her was stronger than anything she had ever felt before.

She closed her eyes for a moment before snapping them open, their chocolate depths filled with a new resolve.

"I'm going back," she told her parents as well as her uncle, aunt and cousin who were in the room, watching the entire scene with wide eyes. "And happy birthday, Uncle Hoshi, sorry I have to cut the party short."

"No problem, Aki," replied the very confused birthday boy/man.

Too long had mother and daughter been separated. She was going back.

* * *

**EchoGirl: I know I said I'd put the reunion into this chapter but its one in the morning and I'm really tired and this just seemed like a good place to stop. It'll be in the next chapter, I promise!**

**Goldfish: *muttering incoherently***

**EchoGirl: *peers into goldfish bowl and sees plans, whistles* Well, that's original.**

**Goldfish: Quit looking! They're _my _WDTAHR plans!**

**EchoGirl: Sigh. Well, please review!**


	42. Awakening

**EchoGirl: You know, I can't believe how popular this story's been.**

**Goldfish: It has been rather popular.**

**EchoGirl: I know, right? And so many reviews *goes dreamy eyed*.**

**Goldfish: *squooshes water at Echo* You're being even weirder than usual! Snap out of it!**

**EchoGirl: Yeah, well, sorry about not updating and keeping you all in suspense but I got drag out on another camping trip and the house when I came back...**

**Goldfish: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**EchoGirl: Trust me, you really, _really _don't want to know.**

**Goldfish: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**EchoGirl: Yeah, so, anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 41**

Akiza's eyes were wide and cautious, glancing at everything that moved, as she walked through the whte corridors of the hospital. She didn't like hospitals, she'd had too many bad experiences with them and everything was always _white. _It was nausiating.

Not that that would stop her.

She'd returned to New Domino for a reason, and she couldn't turn back now. The thought that she and her daughter were in the same building (conicidently, the last building that they'd been together in was also a hospital) thrilled her and she knew that, even if she tried, there was no way she would be able to turn tail and run back to Danson. She was home.

She'd insisted to her parents that she needed to go alone to the hospital; Destiny may be their granddaughter but Akiza, being selfish, couldn't help but want some alone time with the daughter she hadn't even seen in close to fourteen years. "This is something I need to do alone," she had told them.

And now here was, in a hospital, in New Domino, heading for the room that one comatose Destiny Fudo was being held in.

She knew parts of the story about what happened, but Hideo and Setsuko had been very vague, and the violet-haired woman doubted that they even knew the full story. Well of course they wouldn't; the Crimson Dragon had been involved, that automactically made it a Signer and friends only thing. All she knew was that her presence was necessary to wake Destiny up. That was all Yusei and the others had told her parents...

Oh, god. Yusei. She'd completely forgotten. What would _he _say about her being here? Would he even understand what she did, why she left the city? He probably hated her now. The thought stung her heart - she didn't think she'd be able to bear it if Yusei hated her, he'd always been there to catch her if she fell, he'd been a light in her heart while it was incased in darkness and thorns.

For a moment her resolve faltered, but she quickly pulled herself together. This wasn't about her and Yusei, or any of the others. This was about Destiny, and Destiny needed her now and it was impossible for Akiza to ignore her call - she remembered how in that dream she had sobbed into her embrace, so sad for some unknown reason which the former Black Rose finally understood - not this time.

She stood at the door, her palm resting against the smooth, cold metal and closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before pushing it open and stepping inside.

As expected, everything was white; the floor, the walls (aside from a few posters), the chairs around the bed and finally the bed itself. Very slowly her eyes trailed up the rumpled white sheets to the girl who lay peacefully, as if in sleep, attached to all those monsterous devices. There were monitors there too, evaluating her heart rate, brain activity, blood pressure, everything.

All thoughts left Akiza as she half walked, half stumbled over to the foot of the bed. She felt like her knees were going to give out at any moment. She gripped the rail at the foot of the bed to keep herself steady and, for the first time since birth, truly looked at her daughter.

She had long black hair, like Yusei, that was fanned out onto the pillow behind her like the midnight sky, but, Akiza noticed, it was streaked with the same violet that was Akiza's hair colour. She had inherited her own fair complexion, a striking contrast with dark tresses. Her features were delicate and well-defined, even for a thirteen-year-old, with a certain sort sharpness to them. She felt a protective flame ignite within her when she noted the small cuts and lacerations on her face and arms, no doubt caused by shards of glass, and the dark smudges beneath her closed eyes. Apparently she had been restless, according to Hideo, like she had been trapped in a nightmare. The only evidence of that now wear the bags beneath her eyes and the dampness of sweat on her forehead.

Sayer did this to her. The thought that she had once trusted him, believed in him, perhaps even loved him disgusted her now. At one point in her life he'd been closer to her than anyone, and this was what he had done to her daughter all in an act of selfish ambition and revenge. Oh, what a fool she had been. Then she noticed something on Destiny's arm, a red dragon coiling around the limb, its head beginning a few inches above the elbow and its tail ending at the top of the back of her hand, just below the wrist. A tattoo? No, it was too much of a coincidence. Were her eyes decieving her or was that the spitting image of the Crimson Dragon?

As she pondered, she didn't notice the pair of eyes that had been watching her the whole time from the shadowed area of the room, just behind the door.

"Impossible," she muttered.

"That's what we thought."

Taken by surprise, Akiza let out a tiny yelp and spun around to see none other than Yusei himself watching her from the shaded corner of the room just behind the door, one foot propped back against the wall. He looked casual.

"Yusei!"

He just nodded at her before his gaze slid over to Destiny.

"You came."

"Yes."

There was silence. Akiza bit her lip nervously, uncomfortable with the entire situation. Was that it? A four word conversation? She felt goosebumps prickle up on her arms as Yusei walked forward to stand beside her and watch Destiny. Cautiously Akiza turned to do the same.

"Um," she pathetically attempted to start a conversation. Yusei's head turned to look at her and the former Black Rose felt her heart speed up when she noticed those brillant blue eyes upon her - the one's she was sure Destiny had inherited. His eyes had always been one of her favourite parts of him.

"Do you hate me?" she blurted out. The blue-eyed duellist's eyes widened in surprise. After a moment, to Akiza's great relief, he shook his head.

"No, Akiza, I don't hate you."

Akiza. That was the first time he had said her name.

"Y-you don't?" was all she managed to get out.

"I'm not saying that I'm happy with what you did, but I don't hate you for it, Akiza. I understand your reasons, you were afraid that you'd hurt her and I get that but you have to put the past behind you and move forward, Akiza. Otherwise, life's not worth living."

Tentatively, he reached out with one gloved hand to caress her cheek.

"Yusei..." she whispered, covering his hand with her own and gazing up at him with tear-filled eyes. He gave her one of his rare, small smiles and she felt her heart rate double. It almost like being seventeen all over again. Then...

"THE GODDAMN COFFEE MACHINE'S BROKEN!" In shock, the two pulled away as unmistakable voice hollered loudly down the corridor.

"Jack," came another, calmer if not slightly exasperated voice, "it's just coffee, calm down."

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, CROW! WHAT SORT OF CHEAP, SECOND RATE SERVICE IS THIS?"

Yusei shot Akiza an apologetic look before leaving the room to sort out Jack and Crow, leaving her alone with Destiny.

_Only Jack could ruin a moment like that, _she thought, half angry, half amused.

Once again, her attention was taken by Destiny, who still lay as still and peaceful as before on the spotless white hospital bed. She felt her gaze softening as she watched her, wondering what would happen when she finally woke up. Would she _want _to be with her? Get to know her? Or would she despise her for leaving?

Overcome by the sudden desire, Akiza reached out and brushed her fingers against Destiny's smooth, cold cheek, pulling back instantly when the mysterious mark on her arm began to glow with a wicked red light. She felt the burn in her arm and knew instantly that her own Signer mark was doing the same. What was this?

The door opened and Yusei re-entered, this time followed closely by Jack, Crow and Luna. All the Signers were in the room.

"Guys..." Akiza began but Yusei cut her off.

"We can all talk later," he told everyone.

Wordlessly, all four other Signers walked over so that they were all gathered around the bed and one-by-one reached out and touched Destiny. Akiza watched, shocked, surprised and awe-struck as with each touch another part of her daughter's body began to glow, with no doubt another dragon mark. When Yusei touched her it was her collar, when Jack touched her it was her hips, with Luna it was her thigh and with Crow it was her calf/foot.

With their five Signer marks glowing and Destiny's five mysterious dragon marks glowing, there was a sudden burst of scarlet light as a sixth mark errupted on Destiny's back (it could be seen through the white sheets of the bed) and Akiza swore that there was a dim red glow from behind Destiny's eyelids before all the light of all the marks (including the Signers') dimmed and finally extinguished and there was a small moan from the girl lying on the bed as her eyes slowly flickered open revealing dazzling blue and her lips twisted up into a small smile.

There were relieved, happy smiles from all the Signers (well, Jack smirked, but it still counts, right?) and even a small whoop from Crow, but Destiny's sapphire eyes searched the room until they found Akiza's brown ones. Very slowly, the girl's hand reached out to grasp Akiza's and the violet-haired woman could hardly contain a small gasp of delight. Instead she just stared down at her daughter, a tiny smile tugging at her lips.

"I've been waiting for you," Destiny told her. She smiled softly.

"I'm sorry I took so long."

Destiny squeezed her hand and smiled even wider. "It's okay."

Akiza's heart soared.

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, was it okay? Did it suck?**

**Goldfish: You should probably review now.**

**EchoGirl: Yeah, or I'll sic Goldfish on you with a bundle of dynamite.**

**Goldfish: Oooohh! Dynamite! *goes all dreamy eyed***

**EchoGirl: And when that happens, trust me, you really want to run.**

**Goldfish: Dynamite...**

**EchoGirl: So, basically, just click the little button at the top of the page and review.**

**Goldfish: Dynamite...**


	43. Secrets of the Crimson Dragon

**EchoGirl: Okay-dokes, here's the chapter for all you patient readers out there.**

**Goldfish: Uh-huh. Can I get that dynamite?**

**EchoGirl: Nope. Now do the disclaimer. You can plot world domination later.**

**Goldfish: Fine. But then I get the dynamite! EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**EchoGirl: Excellent.**

**Goldfish: _Now _can I get the dynamite?**

**EchoGirl: No.**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 42**

Destiny lay propped up against the pillows on the pure white hospital bed, hissing in pain whenever she so much as tried to shift her position, even one slight movement of her upper body was enough to make her feel like her chest was on fire. Bloody ribs. Sayer's damn dragon must have broken at least three of them. And now she was confined to a hospital bed, doing absolutely nothing and feeling absolutely useless. She hated being hospitalised; it made her feel so weak and incapable – not a feeling she particularly enjoyed.

I'd rather still be in a coma. At least reviewing her newly unlocked memories was actually interesting. There was little that was more exciting than reliving yourself bashing the King of the Underworld into a pulp, and the priceless look on Goodwin's face as she'd done it. My immortal soul is awesome, she concluded.

At least one good thing had come out of her encounter with Sayer – she'd gotten to meet Akiza. The thought filled her with joy and contentment, her mother was back and she finally felt complete. Seeing her face had been something she could only have dreamed of for years.

_But she's back now, _she told herself, _and she's not going to leave again._

She had told Destiny herself; she wasn't going to run away again, and Destiny believed her. Despite the situation – she was lying on a hospital bed with at least three broken ribs having just woken up from a coma, having discovered that she was actually half the soul of a god and her ace monster was the other half, after duelling with a assumed dead psychopath hell bent on revenge – she couldn't help but feel rather pleased with herself. Her mission was accomplished. Boy, did her life have issues.

Dragging herself out of her thoughts, she looked around the small, very crowded hospital room. Everyone was squeezed inside, and Destiny didn't pretend not to know why. They wanted to know about her duel with Sayer, what he did, why it put her in a coma, what these strange marks on her body were and, most of all, why had the Crimson Dragon suddenly appear? It hadn't appeared in years. It hadn't been needed. She sighed and looked up at them. It was time for an explanation. The question was, would they believe it?

* * *

Akiza kept sending anxious glances at her daughter, who seemed completely lost in thought. She never, however, missed the winces and hisses of pain and frustration Destiny let out whenever she shifted on the bed. Her opinion of her former mentor was rapidly disappearing into the negatives.

Her eyes flicked around the room, glancing at its every occupant: Yusei beside her was focusing completely on Destiny, his cobalt eyes burning into the girl on the bed, his fists clenching whenever she hissed sharply; Jack was also watching her, his amethyst eyes narrowed, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand (after a lot of angry yelling, a firm blow from one of the former King's fists had finally got the coffee flowing from the machine); Crow, who was standing a little further off, had one arm around his daughter's shoulders and the former witch could not help but marvel at the similarity between them, especially their identical carrot coloured hair (luckily for Vanessa her hair wasn't quite the same style); Kalin was standing near the door, truth be told, Akiza didn't know what to think of Kalin, she knew that she definitely hadn't liked him when they'd first met, years ago, he'd been a Dark Signer and he'd tried to kill Yusei… but Yusei had assured her that he'd changed so, reluctantly albeit, she lowered her guard. The silver-haired man seemed to be looking at one of his identical twin sons, the look he had in his gold eyes quite clearly said 'don't try anything'; Bruno had his head cocked slightly to one side, a seemingly concerned look in his eyes; Leo was sitting slumped in the chair looking undeniably bored and Luna appeared to be speaking with her beloved Kuribon, Akiza didn't bother to try and pick up on the girl-younger woman's conversation. It was hard for her to come to grips with the fact that Luna and Leo had both grown up, hell, they were both twenty-seven now, they had been barely fourteen the last time she'd seen them.

Then there were the children, who'd filed into the room as soon as Destiny had woken up. Crow's daughter, Vanessa was her name, Vanessa Raven Hogan she'd been told. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that, of course Crow would find a way to wheedle a type of bird into his daughter's name somehow. She had short messy bright orange hair that barely reached her chin and reminded Akiza of a bird's nest. She was eleven years old, the girl had told her, not particularly tall for her age with large dark green eyes. Then there were Kalin's twins, Christopher and Marcus Kessler, though they insisted on being known as Chris and Mark. Akiza had already forgotten which one was which – the others, however, seemed to have no problem identifying them – at least they weren't wearing the same clothes; that would be _too _complicated. They looked at lot like Kalin, pale with silvery blue hair and tall, skinny physiques; their eye and facial structures however were a bit different, the most notable being their pale blue eyes in stark contrast to Kalin's gold one's. Then there were Jack's… spawn. The girl, quite easily the youngest of the group, was rather sweet looking with jet black hair flowing to her mid-back and rather cute bangs. She resembled Carly a lot, and Akiza admitted that she always had had a certain fondness for the clumsy reporter, more so than she'd had for Jack's other admirers. She could, however, see Jack quite easily in the girl's face, the chin and nose and of course the unmistakable amethyst in her big, curious eyes. She supposed that that was why she was called Violet. Then there was_ him._

If Akiza had thought Vanessa looked like Crow then Jake Atlas was his father's clone. The same face, eyes, hair, everything. Even the height. He was the tallest of all the youths in the room and would definitely grow to be over six feet. He also, no doubt, had Jack's attitude. Fabulous. And he was sitting on the bed; one foot propped up, right next to Destiny. _Their shoulders were touching! _And Destiny didn't seem to mind! As soon as it came, Akiza instantly pushed the grandchildren comment from her mind. She glanced at Jack. Once this was all over they would definitely be having a talk.

Then Destiny cleared her throat. All eyes were immediately once again upon her.

"I suppose you want to know what happened between me and Sayer," she croaked, her voice had only been minimally exercised since she'd awoken.

"And…?" Chris asked, gesturing with his hand. "You almost gave us all heart attacks when you started floating. And then all the marks and dragon weirdness."

This was probably Chris; he was, apparently, the one that always got into trouble. She had also heard from the others that Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa had been present at the Arcadia Movement HQ when it had been begun to collapse and had witnessed Destiny's duel. She had then been told their side of the story – to say that she was surprised was an understatement.

Destiny's ace monster suddenly morphing into the Crimson Dragon? Even the Signer dragons couldn't do that. And what about those marks that now adorned her daughter's body? Apparently shed gotten angry, really angry, and they'd just appeared.

"Well, when we were duelling Sayer was talking about something called the Crimson Vessel and trying to get me 'to unleash the full extent of my true powers'."

"The Crimson Vessel?" Crow asked, "what's that?"

Destiny closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if she were wondering how to explain something. "The Crimson Dragon," she began, "when in its true, complete form can only be summoned by the Signers to help them protect the earth. But you already know that."

The room's occupants nodded. This was common knowledge amongst those who knew of the legendary beast.

"Well, it is possible, for around one lifetime a century or so, for the Crimson Dragon to come to earth and, well, live and protect the earth itself, even if there are no Signers existing."

"How is that possible?" Jack demanded.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked at the same time.

"Yeah, how does that work?" Leo enquired.

"But to do so," Destiny continued, ignoring them, "it has to split its soul into two."

"As in two halves?" Akiza asked, "two different people?"

"No," Destiny shook her head, "not two people. A person and a duel monster."

Yusei nodded, "that makes sense. So much power would be impossible for just one being," he glanced at the Signers, "remember Goodwin when he tried to control the power of the Crimson Dragon _and _the King of the Underworld?"

"It destroyed him," Akiza murmured. It _did _make sense to split the dragon's soul into two, human and duel monster.

"The two halves of the dragon's soul are always destined to find each other, lest they will never be complete," Destiny continued, now using her hands to elaborate, "memories of the Crimson Dragon's experiences and quests and its infinite knowledge and power are sealed with the duel monster half and its personality, feelings, mind, conscience, _being _are sealed within its human half. Together, if the two halves fuse their soul they can temporarily unlock their true form and literally _become _the Crimson Dragon, their true form."

Everyone was silent, speechless. It was almost too much information to take in. The Crimson Dragon, the deity of the Signers, living, breathing, among them.

"And this… person is alive now?" Kalin asked. Destiny nodded.

"The Crimson Vessel. There are… conditions for the Vessel's birth though."

"Like?" Crow tilted his head.

"Well, the duel monster is always the same. It takes the form of the Crimson Dragon's unevolved, hatchling form."

_The Crimson Dragon has an unevolved form? _But Akiza wasn't going to ask and neither was anyone else. This was already almost too much information to take in.

"Do you know what this hatchling form looks like?" Bruno asked. Destiny nodded and reached for her deck on the bedside table, hissing in pain as she did so. Akiza felt her eyes widen as her mid spun. This didn't mean… did it?

She took the top card and tossed it at him with the skill and precision that Jack or Yusei would use when performing their card throwing tricks. Bruno, taken by surprise, didn't catch it and it hit him in the chest. Jack gave Destiny a tiny, almost unnoticeable nod.

"You've improved."

Destiny beamed at the compliment; Jack didn't often hand them out. Akiza rolled her eyes. What was so special about throwing a card? She watched carefully as Bruno turned the card over and his steel grey eyes widened immensely.

"But, Destiny!" he exclaimed, "this is your ace monster?"

Though they had all been suspecting it, everyone's head shot up at the announcement and Yusei held out his hand for the card from Bruno who passed it over.

"Red Destiny Dragon," he murmured. From her spot next to him, Akiza could see the picture of the beast and it was truly breathtaking in its red and white majesty. She reached out to touch its image, a small jolt passing through her as she brushed Yusei's hand in the process.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, and the champion turbo duellist glanced at her before passing the card back to Destiny, who held it lovingly in her hand.

"The Crimson Vessel," she told them, "also has to be the child of two Signers and it most Vessels – my past lives – live without the knowledge that they are actually half the soul of their parents' deity" (this, Akiza noticed, was the first time Destiny referred to herself as this Vessel) "and it takes a huge amount of a very powerful emotion to unlock their true abilities. In my case it was rage, Sayer pushed me to my emotional limits and I just, well, exploded. Metaphorically, of course," she added. "When that happens the Vessel's body becomes covered in six Crimson Dragon marks; one for each Signer and one for the Vessel themselves."

"How do you know all this?" Luna asked after a very long and uncomfortable pause.

"Red Destiny gave me all my past memories and knowledge when I was comatose," she explained, "I remember everything. Including all the times I saved your death-wish butts."

**That earned a laugh, but this new knowledge still loomed ominously over them. Her daughter was actually half the soul of a being she'd once hated with all her heart. Now what?**

"So you're…" Leo began, his olive eyes still wide with disbelief.

Destiny nodded and lifted her head to stare at everyone in the room with her soul-seeing sapphire eyes.

"Yes. I'm the Crimson Dragon."

There was another pause as the words, the finality of them sank in, before Destiny spoke again.

"Now when can we go home? My legs are stiff and I'm going to get cramps and I really, _really _want to get out of this stupid hospital gown."

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well, that was interesting.**

**Goldfish: *muttering incoherently***

**EchoGirl: *whispers* He's sulking 'cos I didn't give him any dynamite?**

**Goldfish: Did you say something?**

**EchoGirl: No, just that you should QUIT WHINING!**

**Goldfish: I was not whining?**

**EchoGirl: Ya think?**

**Goldfish: Yeah, I do!**

**EchoGirl: Oh, go plot WDTAHR or something. But tell the readers to review first!**

**Goldfish: Review, or _else._**

**EchoGirl: I agree! Well, not with the 'or else' part but with the 'review' part. Hey, wait a sec, haven't we already had the threatening people converstation? Or do I have to send you to therapy?**

**Goldfish: You did already and they told you that receptionist they don't accept fish. Then I blew the place up and we got kicked out.**

**EchoGirl: Ah, yes, I remember. I never did like that receptionist.**

**Goldfish: Me neither.**


	44. Home is Where the Heart is

**EchoGirl: Well, I'm back with another chapter.**

**Goldfish: We can see that.**

**EchoGirl: Shh! Anyways, this chapter's basically a whole load of fluffy bunnies, 'cos that's the sort of mood I was in.**

**Goldfish: Yeah, you've been acting really strange.**

**EchoGirl: Just do the disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: Fine, fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. **

**EchoGirl: Thank you.**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 43**

A week (and three days) after the Arcadia incident and Destiny's awakening from her coma, she had at last been officially discharged from the hospital on the condition that she didn't do anything too strenuous. Well that was just dandy, no more duelling for her. Fabulous. At least she was finally out of that horrid hospital gown – she didn't think she could stand another second in that _thing_. And she wasn't confined to a bed anymore. That was definitely a good thing.

Things were a little awkward to say the least, Destiny had insisted that Akiza stay with her and Yusei instead of with Hideo and Setsuko – now that she had found her mother, Destiny didn't intend to let her go – and now all three were gathered in the living room, occupying the two sofas in awkward silence; Destiny curled up with her back pressed against Akiza who was playing absentmindedly with her hair while sat opposite them, elbows on his knees, resting his chin in his hands watching mother and daughter intently. It was Destiny who finally broke silence.

"He's not dead, you know," she said quietly, "Sayer, I mean."

She could hear her mother's sigh as the violet-haired woman rested her cheek against her thick midnight tresses. She was all too aware that Sayer was probably alive and plotting this very second – was impossible for him to realise that he just wasn't wanted? Couldn't he just die?

"We know he's alive," Yusei said, "we just don't know what his next move is going to be."

"He's definitely got something planned," Akiza supplied, gently wrapping her arms around Destiny's smaller form, careful not to jostle her healing ribs, Destiny leaned back into her, "once he knows he wants something he'll stop at nothing till he gets it and he won't let it slip through his fingers. You remember how he was after I went to help fight the Dark Signers?"

Yusei nodded. "Obsessed," he paused for a moment as if in thought, remembering how he and Mina had been thrown in a cage and left to drown, "and very possessive."

"He should go see a shrink or something," Destiny announced as her mother's arms tightened protectively around her, not wanting her new-found daughter to become the new object of her former mentor's OCD (well, technically she already had, but still), "get his issues sorted. He needs it. Bad."

This earned a small chuckle from her parents, but the suggestion was lost in the seriousness of the situation.

"So what do we do now?" Akiza asked quietly.

Yusei shrugged. "Wait for him to make the first move, I suppose. He's to unpredictable for us to do it any other way."

_Do I get any say in this conversation? _Destiny wondered. Probably not.

"At least Arcadia's gone," Akiza sighed.

"Are you upset?" Destiny asked her, twisting her head so as her blue eyes could lock gazes with Akiza's brown ones, "it was your home, after all."

"Arcadia hasn't been my home for a very long time, and even at that, it was never truly home," she murmured, glancing across at Yusei, "it took me a long time before I could see that."

"You're home now though, right?"

It seemed like an age that Akiza stared at her with wide brown eyes – the exact same shape as hers – and for a moment Destiny was convinced that she would give her the answer that she dreaded but then her lips curved upwards in a gentle smile which seemed to light up her entire face. "Yes. I'm home and I'm not leaving any time soon."

The grin that broke out across Destiny's face seemed to outshine any other and, reflexively almost, she twisted slightly, ignoring her ribs' protests, and snuggled her head into the crook between Akiza's shoulder and neck. Not caring about the fact she was almost fourteen and possibly considered 'too old for such displays of affection'. Whoever said that could burn in hell for all she cared.

Akiza, despite being taken by surprise, gladly relished her daughter's acceptance of and affection towards her. She had been afraid before that she would be rejected – rejection wasn't something she found she could handle too easily, her parent's rejection when she was a child still stung and she doubted she could bear such a thing happening again – for the way she had left her alone, without a mother for all these years. It turned out that that was obviously not the case.

"I'm sorry I missed out on your childhood," she whispered almost inaudibly, but Destiny was already dozing off. In a matter of seconds she was already asleep; all the same, Akiza still didn't let go. After a moment of watching her sleeping daughter, her gaze turned to Yusei, who was watching them with intense blue eyes.

After a moment of staring, the violet-haired woman turned her head to look out the window. It was dark outside, the sky pitch black with only the full moon and bright lights of New Domino to light up the darkness. There were no stars out and everything was quiet. It must have been almost midnight, past eleven certainly.

"Did you miss me?" she asked, not looking at him, her gaze fixed on the silver moon. It wasn't until the words were out that she realised she'd spoken aloud and she swivelled her head round so that she was once again watching Yusei. He met her gaze unwaveringly, waiting for a moment before he spoke.

"I guess it was like something was gone from my life," he paused, searching for words, "something important, and without everything was… halted, somehow. Like a duel runner missing its entire engine" – Akiza rolled her eyes inwardly, _only Yusei could bring mechanics into such a simple question – _"or," he gave her a small smile, a teasing glint in his eyes, "a rose missing all its petals. And you, Akiza? What did you feel while you were gone?"

"Each day it felt like another piece of my heart was breaking away," she admitted, blushing slightly in the dim light, "and I deluded myself into believing that I was happy, the same way I deluded myself into thinking that Arcadia was home. Once again I see how wrong I was. And then what?" she asked, an underlying, undeniable bitterness in voice, "engines can be replaced."

He tilted his head slightly as he watched her, "but roses accept no petal but their own. Which always grow back eventually."

Akiza suddenly sat up straighter, losing her grip on the girl in her arms and letting Destiny's head slip down into her lap. "You knew I would come back?"

"One way or another," he responded.

After a moment of consideration, the violet-haired woman got up, leaving Destiny alone lying on the sofa and walked over to sit next to Yusei.

"I always somehow felt that you seemed to know me better than I know myself. That was one of my reasons for hating you originally," she said quietly.

She felt flesh beneath her chin, only to discover that Yusei had removed his glove and was now tilting her head upwards so that she would look him in the eye. She inhaled sharply as she did so, those brilliant sapphire orbs had not ceased their effect on her.

"You remember what I told you during our first duel? At the Fortune Cup? About Black Rose Dragon?"

The words from so long ago echoed within her mind. The words that had she had so denied – though they had actually touched her, quite deeply, not that she would admit that – at the time as Black Rose and Stardust had faced it off.

"_Embrace your dragon, it's beautiful – just like you are behind that mask."_

She nodded, a faint pink staining her porcelain cheeks.

"The comment still stands."

Then, as if on cue, both began to lean in, agonisingly slowly, until finally their lips met in the middle and Akiza was positive that, as she had many years ago during their first kiss, she could hear the triumphant roar of dragons in the background. Not that she was complaining.

Completely unnoticed by them, they were far too busy now with fingers and thumbs caressing cheeks and necks and burying themselves in hair, on the sofa opposite Destiny lay with both eyes cracked open and a silly grin on her face, watching the entire scene.

Oh, all the things one could witness while pretending to be asleep.

* * *

**EchoGirl: That was pretty short, but there wasn't all that much to write about...**

**Goldfish: YES! I HAVE COMPLETED THE BOMB!**

**EchoGirl: Good for you- wait, what? Did you say that you completed the _bomb?_**

**Goldfish: YES! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

***bomb goes off and goldfish bowl explodes. Echo is drenched***

**EchoGirl: Well, that kind of backfired, huh?**

**Goldfish: *flopping about on floor* ACH! I'M DYING, ECHO! I'M DYING! DO SOMETHING! C-CAN'T BRE-BREATHE!**

**EchoGirl: You better thank me for this later. *scoops Goldfish up in water bottle***

**Goldfish: Hah... water...**

**EchoGirl: Well, that was interesting. Please, please, please review!**


	45. Back to School

**EchoGirl: And here is another chapter!**

**Goldfish: How wonderously amazing.**

**EchoGirl: Thanks.**

**Goldfish: Does the word sarcasm mean anything to you?**

**EchoGirl: Oh, that was sarcasm?**

**Goldfish: Wasn't it obvious?**

**EchoGirl: Oh. Anyways. *opens water bottle and brings to mouth***

**Goldfish: DON'T DRINK ME, YOU IDIOT!**

**EchoGirl: Oh, oopsies! *puts bottle back down* Sorry, forgot.**

**Goldfish: Evidently.**

**EchoGirl: Hey, just do the disclaimer!**

**Goldfish: Fine, just don't try to swallow me again - I can't plot world domination from inside your stomach.**

**EchoGirl: Is that all you ever think about?**

**Goldfish: Yes. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 44**

For the duration of Destiny's coma, and for a couple of days after, the entire gang had gotten nearly a week off school. Of course, now that the said recently released hospital patient was on the quick journey to recovery they had no choice but to return to their lessons, much to their chagrin.

Destiny, however, was at least somewhat glad that she was going back; sure there would be annoying teachers as well as Chania and her cronies to deal with but, really, anything was better than being cooped up in the house all day. Bloody broken ribs. They were almost fully healed now, she could officially get dressed in the morning without feeling like someone had drop an oil tanker on her chest.

So here she was, dressed in full uniform plus her maroon girls' blazer, standing outside the gates of Duel Academy with the rest of the gang behind her also decked in uniform.

"Well," she sighed, looking up at the academy entrance; "here we are again."

"Aw, man," Chris groaned, "Can't we just take the entire week off? I mean, we've already had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off; why not Thursday and Friday? It's just stupid."

"You know, Chris," Vanessa told the elder Kessler twin, "considering your attendance record, it's a surprise you even pass the end of year exams. And when you _do _attend, you sleep during class."

"I got an F in theory!" the silver-haired boy announced proudly, earning an eye roll from the others. When would Chris learn that failing your exams was not something to be proud of?

"Who cares?" Jake waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, "theory's stupid anyway."

"Here, here," Mark agreed and Chris held his head up proudly.

"You see? Theory's completely pointless, so who cares?"

"You evidently," Destiny muttered just as Vanessa began to speak again.

"You also failed literature, every science apart from physics, history _and _politics," she was interrupted by a brief "who cares about any of those?" from Chris before continuing, "the only subjects you actually got a good grade in were practically duelling and psychology."

Everyone spun around to face Chris at that last point.

"You do psychology?" Mark asked.

"And you _passed?" _that was Jake.

"Hey," Chris held his hands in the air, "I'm not as dumb as you all think."

"Whatever," Destiny interrupted what could possibly become an argument though privately she too was amazed as to how Chris got an A in psychology when he probably needed to see a psychologist himself, "let's get going."

They were inside the school and on their way to their first class and just as they were about to split up (Destiny, Jake, Chris and Mark going one way and Vanessa the other) a teacher approached them; well, not really a teacher but an assistant who filed papers in Heitmann's office. Destiny wasn't quite sure of the woman's name, amongst the gang she was simply known as 'the stutterer' due to the fact that she often stuttered when she talked. Even more so than Carly around strangers.

"Um, Mi-miss F-fudo?" she asked, anxiously pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, causing the pencil that she had held there to slip. She bent down to pick it up before glancing nervously at the group.

"Yes?" Destiny asked, having a pretty good idea what this was all about.

"V-vice Principle Hei-Heitmann wants to see you and y-your, uh, friends i-in h-his, uh, office, i-immediately. Please," she added as an afterthought, glancing at the glaring Jake Atlas who really couldn't be bothered with Heitmann at this point in time.

"Sure," Destiny replied before Jake could open his mouth and terrify the poor woman even more than he already had. He shot her a dirty look and huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as the stutterer turned around and began to lead them through the halls to the vice principle's office – not that they didn't know the way, the had been there god knows how many times, usually with a detention, but it was just common courtesy to let the stutterer lead them there – stumbling at least twice.

"Um, he-here you are."

Destiny gave her a nod of acknowledgement as she opened the door and let them pass through. As expected, Heitmann sat at his desk, twiddling his ridiculous prawn moustache with his fingers.

"For three days in a row," he began as the five top junior student filed in front of the desk, "you five have not been in attendance," he slammed his hands down loudly on the table, "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

Jake cocked a single blond eyebrow and gave the vice principle of Duel Academy a look of such contempt that would make any ordinary person flinch – Heitmann, however, was too wound up to notice. "Your point, Rudolph?"

Jake and Chris also had this habit that seemed to tick teachers off to no end – if he found them particularly annoying they would refer to them by their first names, or abbreviate their first names into something ridiculous, like Ruddy. Heitmann was one of theses teachers, despite the fact that he somewhat respected them for their skills as duellists and their impressive monsters and use of them.

"IT'S VICE PRINCIPLE HEITMANN TO YOU, ATLAS!" Jake snorted and Chris muttered something along the lines of 'anger management' in a singsong voice, "NOW TELL ME WHY YOU'VE BEEN SKIPPING CLASSES OR YOU'RE ALL EXPELLED!"

Jake waved his hand dismissively, "you can't afford to lose us. The five of us practically equal the entire academy. Teachers – that means you – included, _Vice Principle Heitmann."_

Heitmann's face turned a rather nasty shade of purple and he made several gagging noise and strangling gestures with hands before yelling, "JUST TELL ME WHY THE HELL YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN SCHOOL!" and spraying them all with spittle.

"I was in an accident," Destiny explained quietly once Heitmann's face had returned to its original colour, "I broke five ribs and was unconscious for three days. Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa stayed with me in hospital since them and their parents are close family friends."

"Oh," was all Heitmann could say, "you can go then," he waved them towards the door.

"That guy is such an idiot," Jake commented once they were outside.

No one bothered to argue. Their parents had all contacted the academy to inform them of the situation and that none of the five youths would be attending classes as long as Destiny was in the hospital because they refused to leave. They'd even brought sleeping bags into the hospital and had an all-nighter, much to their parents chagrin. Also, much to Jack and Akiza's horror, Jake had fallen asleep on Destiny's bed and once again they'd woken up (due to Akiza's scream and Chris, Mark and Vanessa's laughter) in a rather awkward position (Destiny's face was buried in Jake's chest with his arms around her and their legs all tangled together), they all still had to laugh when thinking back onto the look on Akiza's face. Priceless.

The day, so far, had gone quite well for Destiny – theory had been cancelled due to the fact that the teacher was ill so instead they'd gotten Luna for a double period – unlike most others (coughHeitmanncough), Luna was actually a good teacher – and she hadn't had a single confrontation with Chania yet; 'yet' being the key word, it was only a matter of time.

It seemed only natural that it would be lunchtime when everything started going downhill. She, Jake, Chris, Mark and Vanessa had all been sitting, quite happily, at their usual table talking about the class that they had just had when a smooth voice interrupted them.

"Well, well, look whose back."

Destiny didn't even need to turn around to know that Chania Deltoure was behind her, long ago she had grown to be able tell when the pretty blonde's obnoxious presence and oversized ego tainted the air around her. It was smothering.

"What do you want, Deltoure?" she sighed, not bothering to look up but merely continued to sip her drink.

"I heard that you were in hospital."

"Oh?" she asked, still not looking, "and what little birdie told you that?"

"The vice principle was talking about it."

"Huh."

"You know," Chania said, her voice growing aggravated at Destiny's lack of response, "you could've done everyone a favour and just stayed in that coma."

Destiny suddenly spun around, her elbow hitting Vanessa's drink and sending it flying off the table and spilling all over Chania, who screamed in horror and surprise.

"Oops," the sarcasm practically rolled off Destiny's tongue, "I am so sorry, Chania. I had no idea that you were standing there."

Chania glared at her for a moment before something else caught her attention, Destiny legs, or more particularly, the marks on them. "Nice tattoos," she commented, her voice spiteful, "does Daddy know that you got them?"

Destiny glanced down at her legs and, sure enough, there they were; the academy skirt only covered the top half of the thigh so the lower half of the dragon mark was visible against her pale skin and on the opposite leg the head of the dragon was just peeking out of the knee-highs. Oh, well, she liked the tattoos. They made her feel special and unique – even if they did look a bit strange.

"Yeah," she replied with a shrug, before a wicked grin appeared on her face, "and on that note, Chania, what about _your _daddy, huh? Got that big promotion yet?"

Recognising instantly that Destiny was referring to the WRGP opening night where Chania had insulted her mother before finding out that the said mother was actually the daughter of her father's superior at work, who was prepared to help him get a very important promotion and now was not. Not until Chania apologised to Destiny for what she had said – something her pride wouldn't allow her to do. She simply glared menacingly at Destiny, who glared right back, before turning around and stomping off (still soaked with Vanessa's drink), her two companions who had been busy staring dreamily at Jake, followed quickly after they realised that their 'leader' had left.

The snickering broke out after Chania left, it wasn't everyday you saw Chania Deltoure being drenched in (cool) hot chocolate and then verbally whipped, but it sure as hell was funny.

"What do we have next?" Destiny asked, still grinning.

"I have literature then theory," Vanessa announced.

"We," Mark pulled out his timetable, he and Chris still hadn't learnt theirs, "have practical then physics."

That doused Destiny's spirits a little – she was forbidden to duel for at least another week due to her injuries needing time to recover, once again she cursed her ribs. Broken bones were such a nuisance. At least she had physics after that, she was good at physics and then she could go home and spend some more time with her parents, particularly her mother. They hadn't gone out in public yet because, with the current situation the way it was media attention would _not _be helpful, the complete opposite in fact.

To tell the truth, Destiny was starting to get a little paranoid, okay maybe 'a little' was understatement. She wasn't walking in dark alleys anymore or taking shortcuts or going outside at night (at least not 'til she knew that Sayer was gone). She was even making sure that her duel disk was near, deck already inserted, when she went to bed at night and, if all else failed, she slept next to a mallet.

She just hoped Sayer would be gone soon – it was her birthday in four days and she didn't want _him _ruining it.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well, that was interesting. After all the Crimson Dragon drama, I just wanted to do something that makes Destiny more human.**

**Goldfish: Hm. Yes. Review.**

**EchoGirl: Please do!**


	46. Contemplation

**EchoGirl: Yay! I have over 100,000 words! And over 600 reviews! Yay!**

**Goldfish: Wow. We really care.**

**EchoGirl: Oh, stop being such a killjoy! Anyways, this chapter's really quite short - my shortest yet - but it's not actually that important, it's an introduction to an important chapter though. Basically it's just Destiny pondering her situation and what she's gonna do about it.**

**Goldfish: Basically. Now, don't say too much! You're giving it all away!**

**EchoGirl: Not that there's much to give away, but still. I hope you like it.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**EchoGirl: Shame really. I know what I would do with it if I did; like actually get the obvious couples together for once!**

**Goldfish: Well, you don't so quit whining and suck it up.**

**EchoGirl: Killjoy.**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 45**

Destiny didn't bother trying to delude herself into believing that everything was back to normal. She was back at school – her life may have regained some hint of consistency, but that was it. After her run-in with Sayer Destiny doubted that her life would ever be 'normal' again. For starters, her mother was back; that put everything in a whole new perspective. It was a dream come true for the aspiring duellist, and probably, in the past couple of weeks, the only good thing that had happened to her. Then there was the whole Crimson Vessel issue; not that Destiny would admit it, but these new powers scared her, more than she would have ever thought possible. And then there was Sayer and, believe it or not, being chased by an obsessive Class A nutcase was more than a little freaky.

All in all, in less than a month her entire existence had been turned upside down all due to one being, deity. The Crimson Dragon; the creature that had altered the lives of so many. And it lived within her. No, not just within her, it _was _her. Her and Red Destiny – the split soul of a god. The marks that adorned her body proved it.

She would never admit any these fears in public – not to anyone, not even her best friends or parents. She needed to appear strong, if she couldn't handle the burden that had been placed upon her shoulders, if she just gave into her inner weaknesses, then no one could. As much as they hated to admit it, it was impossible to deny – she _knew _that they needed her to be strong, because this newfound power scared them all.

It was only at night, when she sat awake in the solitude of her bedroom that she would even admit these fears to herself and, for the first time, ponder them. How she missed her old life! What she wouldn't give to return to that blissfully ignorant existence. Why some people were so desperate for power, she would never understands: this power of the stars meant nothing to her, she didn't want it.

But, evidently, Sayer did. His thirst for it was maniacal, frightening.

If there was one thing that she was sure of it was this; Sayer had to go. His continued existence threatened the balance of everything. He had already pushed her to her limits; if her got full control of her abilities, well, Destiny didn't even want to think of what would happen.

But how was she to stop him? The man never seemed to die. Had he made a pact with some dark god of death that Destiny did not know of? Or was he just one lucky bugger? Her powers wouldn't help her, she was sure of this. She didn't even have any real access to them. They were locked, along with all the limitless knowledge she had of the Crimson Dragon, within her subconsciousness. It seemed as if she could only reach them in dreams, dreams that were instantly repressed the moment she awoke. Or unleashed uncontrollable when she reached her absolute limits, both physically and mentally. Sayer had accomplished that and it wasn't something she wanted to repeat – last time she had almost killed herself.

Or if she was called by the Signers in a moment of true need, for example, fighting the Earthbound Immortals and destroying the King of the Underworld or lending assistance in fighting Yliaster and evil ancient demons. She highly doubted that Sayer would qualify for this case, even if he had caused permanent mental scarring to the youthful Crimson Vessel.

So, basically, she had to work out her own way to get rid of Sayer. Just bloody brilliant.

Gradually, Destiny began to feel her eyelids drooping and she lay down on the bed, twisting slightly to the side and reaching out with her hand, feeling along the bedside table until her fingers brushed against the unmistakable form of the mallet. Good, it was there. Who knows when Sayer could sneak in, after all? Better safe than sorry.

Smirking in satisfaction, she retracted her hand and brought it up to her chest, curling her body into itself and letting go of her conscious mind – unwittingly entering a dream that would give her exactly what she needed.

* * *

**EchoGirl: So, yeah, not much really, just a look inside Destiny's mind and at her vulnerabilities and all. I was, originally, just going to go straight to the next chap but I thought this would be a nice filler - just Destiny and her thoughts and fears.**

**Goldfish: Yes, very nice. Can you find me a bowl now? Or maybe even a fancy tank? I can't stand this water bottle any longer. There's no room to plot world domination!**

**EchoGirl: *rolls eyes* Please review. Oh, and on that note, I'm also accepting annonymous reviews now.**

**Goldfish: Yes, how wonderful, NOW FIND ME A BOWL! I'M HAVING WORLD DOMINATION PLANNING WITHDRAWAL SYMPTONS!**

**EchoGirl: Really?**

**Goldfish: YES! NOW FIND ME A GOLDFISH BOWL!**

**EchoGirl: Okay, okay, geez, calm down already.**


	47. Sky Temple

**EchoGirl: Well, here's the next chapter.**

**Goldfish: Yes, at last it is here.**

**EchoGirl: Aren't you suppose to be in eternal gratitude to me for getting you a new goldfish bowl instead of making snarky comments?**

**Goldfish: Oh, but, Echo, think about how boring your life would be if you didn't have me, my snarky comments and my amazing world domination schemes?**

**EchoGirl: You called trying to take over the world using feather boas, candy floss and weedkiller an amazing scheme?**

**Goldfish: No one appreciates true genius anymore! I'm going back to my plotting, goodbye Echo! *swims into castle at bottom of bowl***

**EchoGirl: Psycho. Anyways, disclaimer! Goldfish! I need my disclaimer!**

**Goldfish: You do it!**

**EchoGirl: No, it's your job!**

**Goldfish: *from inside castle* Fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 46**

Destiny, quite honestly, had absolutely no idea where she was. She was dreaming, that she was sure of, but _where _this dream had taken her she did not know; one thing was certain, however, this was definitely not the realm of the mask of the Black Rose. But, despite never having been here before, this place had a certain air of familiarity about it, like she knew this place.

Basically she was standing at the top of a very high mountain, or maybe a floating rock, she wasn't quite sure, but she was definitely high up – above the clouds, anyway.

And in front of her was what appeared to be a giant Aztec temple; just like the ones she had learnt about in ancient history where they performed live human sacrifices by cutting someone's heart out and offering it to the sun so that it would rise the next day – it was typical that during that very lesson Chris had asked how many people would be killed during a solar eclipse – good thing people didn't believe in that sort of stuff anymore.

Wait, she wasn't here as a human sacrifice, was she? Unconsciously, Destiny hand drifted up to her chest, feeling the rhythmic thump of her heart beneath her palm; she liked it where it was, thank you very much.

Pushing the human sacrifice thought from her mind, she decided to explore her surroundings and maybe get a bit of an idea as to why she was here and perhaps as to why this place felt so familiar. Taking small steps, she walked cautiously towards the edge of this mountain/flying rock/pillar that she was standing on. Peering over the edge, she felt her stomach plummet: saying that this place was high off the ground was an understatement – she couldn't even get a glimpse of land through the heavy cloud cover.

_Definitely a floating rock, _she decided, taking a large step back from the edge. Falling would not be a good idea; Destiny didn't know whether or not you could die in dreams but she sure as hell wasn't prepared to try it. There wasn't much on this giant flying rock, just the temple that had originally caught her attention and some tall stone pillars that had been erected around it, there was also a tall mountain in the background, so tall that it surpassed even the temple.

The temple. It truly was a grand sight in all ancient architectural glory silhouetted against the bright light of the setting sun, Destiny even had to lift her arm to shield her eyes from its rays to see the top. Destiny's eyes widened momentarily before squinting again to check that she had seen right. Yes, she had. There, at the top of the stairs, in front of the entrance to the temple was a man. And was he… _beckoning _her to come up?

After overcoming her initial surprise, Destiny scowled as a wave of irritation came over her. That temple was at least three hundred metres high! And there were _stairs _all the way up! Stairs! Not that she was lazy or anything, but she wasn't dead keen on trekking up nearly a third of a kilometre of steep stairs at a forty degree angle! It would taking twenty minutes minimum! If this guy wanted to talk to her so badly he should just come down himself, it would take much less time and effort but, glancing up at the tiny silhouette of a man who now appeared to have his arms folded across his chest, Destiny concluded that that was not going to happen so, reluctantly albeit, she headed towards the foot of the temple and began the climb up to the top.

All this effort better pay off! I'm not climbing all these stairs just to have my heart cut out by some rusty ceremonial knife!

The sun had completely set before Destiny, puffing and panting, reached the top of the stairs. At the top step she stopped and bent over, hands on her knees to catch her breath, her calves screaming in protest. Glancing back she noticed a tiny trail of dark red blood on the smooth grey stone, a side effect of having stumbled and nicked the skin on her bare foot on the way up. It was also then that she noticed that she was only wearing her pyjamas (not her most flattering ones, either; pale blue shorts and tank top about two sizes to small that left her marks on full display). After a moments pause she finally climbed the top step to come face-to-face – or rather face-to-abdomen, height wasn't in Destiny's favour – with the mysterious man who had forced her to climb all those dratted stairs in the first place. He hadn't moved once in the twenty-three minutes that it had taken Destiny to ascend them. He was a real helpful guy – insert sarcasm here.

In an attempt to regain some of her dignity, Destiny pushed a few strands of sweaty dark hair away from her forehead and glared at him though the man didn't do so much as flinch, instead he met her eyes with an equally strong gaze, though it was not an icy cold anger-filled glare but instead it was as if he was analysing her, reading her soul through her eyes. For several minutes they remained like this, Destiny being the first to look away, looking at him instead.

He was tall, almost as tall as Jack, and muscular with dark olive skin and broad shoulders; he was also completely bald except for a single greying braid of dark hair that went passed his shoulders to brush against his broad chest. The garments he wore were odd, at least to Destiny they were, like the clothes worn by ancient civilisations; fine white cloth worn like a sort of tunic and scarlet and gold sleeveless robes and gold jewellery; armlets and anklets, earrings and rings and a heavy pendant that disappeared into his tunic. His eyes, as she had noticed, were like two pools of swirling oil, intimidating to say the least, especially the way he watched her with them narrowed and a tiny v-shaped crease between them. He hadn't so much as said a word to her, had he dragged her all the way up here just to frown and watch her through his undeniably spooky dark eyes. She also noted that he had a tattoo, an inscription just below his right eye – something written in an ancient language that looked just like senseless squiggles and minuscule pictures to her.

"Um," she began awkward, rubbing her bare arms as she noticed just how cold it was at the top of the temple, it was night now after all, "who are you?"

He did not respond but merely stared at her a little longer, taking her in, his eyes lingering particularly on her marks, the ones that were visible from the current angle before, at long last, he opened his mouth to speak in a deep, heavily accented voice.

"So it is you."

Whatever that was suppose to mean.

Destiny raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "And…?"

But he took no notice of her and instead continued, "it has been many generations, I must admit, since the Crimson Vessel has been female."

"You got something against women then or something?" Destiny asked, hands on her hips. If anything got on her nerves, it was sexism. Of course it would be this that she noticed first and not the fact that he was aware of her identity as the Crimson Vessel.

The strange man shook his head in what appeared to be amusement. "Hardly," came his response, "I was merely noting a fact, my lady."

The title caught Destiny's attention. My lady? Why should this man – intimidating man – addressed her as 'his lady'?

"What's with the title? And how do you know that I'm the Crimson Vessel? Who exactly are you?"

"My name, Destiny Fudo, is Oxocoatl, High Priest and Guardian of the Dragon Star, and the first advisor to the Star Dragon King."

Now Destiny was confused. Guardian of the Dragon Star? Star Dragon King? _What the hell?_

"Uh, _what? _I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Oxo… Oxocattle…?"

"It is all within your subconsciousness," Oxocoatl said simply, touching his index finger to her forehead. Images suddenly sprung in front of her eyes: an ancient civilisation, praying to their deity, their god, the Dragon Star and their king, the Star Dragon King and his guardian and High Priest/advisor who could speak to that deity… then evil creatures, monsters and familiar ones at that, the people and the king praying to their god and creature being born…

"Oh…" Destiny murmured, glancing up at him, "gotcha."

Repressed memories of an immortal existence really sucked – not the immortal existence part, or the memories, but the fact that they were repressed.

Destiny wasn't sure if it was just her or if the faintest hint of a smile just flickered across the stern guardian's impassive, tattooed face.

"So, uh," she asked hesitantly, "what was your name again."

"Oxocoatl," the man replied, not bothering with the full title, realising his name was already rather complex for her.

"Ox-o-coat-al," she tested, rolling the name about on her tongue, pronouncing all five syllables, "Can I just call you Oxo?" she didn't wait for him to respond, "and where are we? I mean, this place feels familiar, like really familiar, but I just can't put my tongue on it."

"Well it would feel familiar," Oxo told her, "Destiny Fudo, Crimson Vessel, welcome to the Stairway to the Dragon Star, Sky Temple. The birthplace of the Crimson Dragon."

"That would make sense."

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well that was interesting. This is only part 1 by the way, they'll be some more of this dream.**

**Goldfish: Yeah.**

**EchoGirl: And I promise to update soon!**

**Goldfish: Indeed.**

**EchoGirl: And remember how much I love reviews?**

**Goldfish: They make you aggravatingly happy and encourage you update quicker.**

**EchoGirl: Exactly, so please review!**


	48. Oxocoatl's Answers

**EchoGirl: Yo, sorry for the wait. Anyways, here's the second part of Destiny's dream and the my 48th chapter.**

**Goldfish: Uh-huh, that's all very nice now can we just _get a move on?_**

**EchoGirl: Fine, if you insist. Do the disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 46**

The Stairway to the Dragon Star? Why had her dream brought her here? Her mind buzzing with questions, Destiny turned away from Oxo to look out at the starry night sky, of which, standing at the top of the temple, she had an excellent view of.

"You are not surprised," Oxo commented and she could feel his pitch-black gaze upon her, sending shivers up her spine.

"Not surprised," she responded after a moment, still not turning round, "just curious," she smiled wistfully and let out a humourless laugh, "after all that's happened in the past few weeks I doubt that anything could ever surprise me."

The priest did not respond but his piercing gaze did not lift from her back, she could practically feel his eyes tracing the visible parts of the mark on her back, the full form of the Crimson Dragon. At last she turned around to face him.

"Why am I here?" was all she asked.

Oxo pursed his lips and motioned to the entrance of the temple behind him, "come."

He went in first and she followed, goosebumps prickling her arms and the back of her neck as she stepped into the small chamber. It was empty, much to Destiny's surprise, she had half expected it to be filled to the brim with gold and other valuable pieces but, then again, she'd never been that big on ancient history and didn't really know what a pre-Incan civilisation would consider valuable. It was dark as well which didn't help much, the only source of light was a torch (basically just a stick with a flame) that was being held by Oxo.

"Great living space," she commented with an edge of sarcasm. The chamber wasn't big, it was about seven metres by seven metres, completely black except for one light source, one entrance and exit and on top of that it was completely dark outside except for the stars.

_I feel like I'm in a box._

Then she remembered something that the Signers had told her from one of the stories that they had always told her and the rest of the younger generation.

Rex Goodwin had kept his brother's severed Signer arm in this chamber.

Destiny shuddered in visible disgust. She knew that Goodwin had been close to his brother and desperately wanted to be a super-god and all, but really wasn't keeping your brother's arm for almost two decades kind of pushing a little?

Mind you, at least he'd kept it up here in the temple chamber and not somewhere where it could be easily found by the regular folk. She snickered, imaging the scandal. She could just see it, the newspaper headline: _severed arm found after seventeen years in Director's freezer._

"Something amusing?" Oxo asked, and, with his face illuminated by the light given off by the flame, Destiny noticed that he had raised an eyebrow, watching her. She shook her head.

"Just thinking about something," she replied vaguely.

"I see," he responded, waving a hand and Destiny watched with wide eyes as several stone tiles moved away to reveal a set of stairs leading down. There was no way Goodwin could have known about that!

"Come," he said again as he descended the stairs, his head slowly disappearing. Destiny huffed quietly – whatever happened to ladies first? – before following.

The steps were steep and narrow, and she stumbled on the last one, cursing loudly as she stubbed her toe on the hard stone floor, something which earned an odd, not to mention sharp, look from Oxo.

"Sorry," she mumbled half-heartedly, bending down to massage her sore toe. This room was equally dark, if not more so, than the small chamber above them, she couldn't make out a single thing except for the flickering flame of Oxo's torch and even that didn't offer much light.

It didn't help much either when Oxo extinguished that flame and Destiny almost fell over when the room suddenly lit up, multiple torches fixed against the stone walls now burning intensely, lighting up the room.

It was a lot bigger than Destiny expected, much bigger than the tiny chamber they had just left and the yellowy stone walls were decorated with ancient drawings of multiple men and women, and even occasionally children, hundreds of them, each, she noted, with their bodies decorated with red marks identical to hers. What was this?

As if sensing her question, Oxo turned to her.

"This is the chamber of the Crimson Vessel," he told her, gesturing to space around him by throwing his arm in a wide arc, "you see these pictures?" he asked.

Destiny simply nodded, her throat feeling very dry all of a sudden.

"These are the Vessels that have lived before you, your past lives, and," he added quietly, "the paths they have chosen."

At the final statement Destiny frowned and scanned the drawings on the walls, wondering what Oxo could have possibly meant, it was with this proper viewing of the images of her so-called past lives that she noticed that beside each drawing of a person there was also a drawing of an extremely familiar serpentine form.

"Red Destiny," she breathed, reaching out to one of the drawings, one of a dark skinned man with thick black hair, her beloved dragon other half of her soul beside him. Still puzzled by what Oxo had said – "and the paths they have chosen" – her eyes moved to the next drawing, of an extremely pale skinned woman (almost unhealthily so) with dark red hair, but there was something different about this one. There was a certain aura of darkness around her lifeless image. Slowly, Destiny's eyes slid to her dragon and she inhaled sharply for beside this drawing was not Red Destiny Dragon but in fact its dark counterpart, Dark Destiny Dragon.

Was this what Oxo had meant by the Vessels' choices? Red Destiny or Dark Destiny? Good or evil, even? She glanced at the priest, her eyes asking for an explanation.

He nodded his confirmation and Destiny's shoulders slumped. She had used both Red Destiny and Dark Destiny. Where did that put her?

"There is a very fine line between good and evil, Destiny," Oxo told her, taking a step forward and then another until he rested his massive tanned hand on her alabaster shoulder which was so tiny in comparison, "they coexist within a person's heart, no one person can be completely good and no one person can be completely evil. They balance each other out, but they fight each other constantly and often the scales tip in favour of one." He placed a hand against her heart, feeling its racing pulse, "it is with your heart you must decide which path to follow."

His words affected her much more than she cared to admit, so she pulled away without responding and headed further down the room, to the last drawing, which shone unnaturally compared to the others. As she approached she instantly recognised the features of this Vessel, it was female with fair skin and long black, violet streaked hair and eyes like twin sapphires. She was looking at a drawing of herself, and the shine that was coming off of it was that of life, she was the current Vessel, living and breathing. Yet, instead of having one dragon drawn beside her there were two and they were _moving. _It was strange and confusing to say the least, her own drawing was still while the drawn images of Red Destiny and Dark Destiny circled it.

_Weird…_

"Oxo!" she called and heard footsteps as Oxo came to stand beside her, "what's up with my picture? Why are they both there?"

"Your soul is undecided," Oxo replied simply, confusing Destiny even more, "you have not undergone Soul Judgement."

"Soul what now?" Destiny asked, raking a hand through her hair, "my head hurts. Why do you always make things so confusing? Can't you talk straight for once?"

"Believe what you wish, young Vessel," Oxo replied mysteriously, "but I am speaking the mere truth. Complex it may be but I am taking it that you would prefer a complicated truth to simple lies?"

"Well, duh," Destiny replied, "but you just put it in a confusing way."

Destiny was almost positive that she heard him sigh in exasperation – it seemed to be an unwitting habit of hers to aggravate people in her dreams.

"What's the point in the Crimson Vessel, anyway?" she asked, suddenly eager for a change of subject and she'd been wanting to know the answer for this question for a while now.

"The Vessel's main purpose is simple," Oxo began, "the Crimson Dragon is immortal, a god," Destiny nodded, not quite sure where he was going with this, "and thus it cannot survive in this dimension in its true form unless summoned by its servants, the Signers, and so it split its soul into two and took on the form of a mortal and of a duel monster spirit."

"Why split its soul?" Destiny asked, intrigued. Why go to the bother of splitting your soul into two when you could have it complete?

"To divide its power," Oxo answered immediately, as if having already anticipated the question, "for one person of have so much power, so much knowledge… it just isn't healthy. Power corrupts."

Destiny nodded in understanding. Power _did _corrupt, and, as for knowledge, didn't the wisest say that knowledge is power?

_And thus all my memories of my immortal existence and past mortal existences have been repressed. Talk about a bummer._

"And of course many Signer and Vessels just live their lives without any idea about who they really are, because there has been no reason for them to do so, no enemies that needed to be fought, for example, before your parents time there had not been much for the Signers to do and for many years the Crimson Dragon was forgotten. That," he told her, "is another reason for the Crimson Vessel, with the Crimson Dragon's soul amongst those of mortal it prevents its legacy from dying, from becoming dormant."

"Okay, that makes sense," Destiny said, tapping her foot and examining her nails, beneath her mask of nonchalance she was actually trying to take in as much of the information Oxo was giving her as possible. If one thing was for certain it was that she would have a major headache when she woke up.

"And what's…" she gulped, not liking the feel of the word on her tongue, "Soul Judgement?"

"A virtually unknown ability of the Crimson Dragon," he told her (for some reason Destiny couldn't help but thinking of Oxo as her own little encyclopaedia, though he was, as a matter of fact, quite large), "it is very rarely used, apart from of course at the death of a Vessel. It is the judgement of a soul to see what path they have chosen – dark or light – and how far down that path they have gone; like a trial of sorts. If a Vessel who is judged while still alive and they are approved, they themselves are entrusted with Soul Judgement and can perform it themselves. It is very rare though."

"And if… a soul is not approved?" Destiny asked quietly, almost fearing the answer.

Oxo's response was equally quiet, "if a soul is judged to be dark, dark enough to prove that they have followed that evil path to the point of no return," ("Sayer," Destiny muttered, her expression darkening drastically), "then there are equally dark consequences."

"Punishment?" she asked.

Oxo shrugged. "I am not to divulge."

Suddenly Destiny realised something, one of the reasons she was here. She hadn't been brought here _just _to learn the secret of the Crimson Vessel, surely.

"Am- am I here to be judged?"

Oxo glanced down at her, an unreadable expression on his tattooed face.

"Yes," he told her solemnly, watching her, monitoring her reaction carefully, with his swirling oil-like eyes. "Do not be afraid, however, Destiny. I have faith that you shall pass. However, I must tell you, the process will not be pleasant."

Destiny closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself, and squared her shoulders, before opening them to look at Oxo with sapphire orbs filled with determination and unbreakable spirit. She could, and would, do this.

"I'm ready."

* * *

**EchoGirl: Another cliff-hanger. Cliff-hangers are fun, but at the same time very very evil...**

**Goldfish: *looks up from plans at the bottom of goldfish bowl* Very.**

**EchoGirl: Don't those get wet?**

**Goldfish: No.**

**EchoGirl: How not?**

**Goldfish: That's for me to know and you to find out.**

**EchoGirl: Okay, then. I promise I'll try to update soon, please review!**

**Goldfish: *deep in thought* ...**

**EchoGirl: You are just _so_ helpful, you know that?**

**Goldfish: ...**

**EchoGirl: Ugh! Whatever. Please review!**


	49. Destiny's Battle

**EchoGirl: Yawn... Hi, well sorry about the long time it took to update school just started back last week and they really don't give you a break. But now, I'm really, like really, tired so I just hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for being so patient with me - sorry again!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 48**

The next chamber that Oxo led her into was just as large as the last one, perhaps even larger. The main difference though, between the two chambers, was that, unlike the last, this one was completely bare – stripped of all fancy artwork and design.

To Destiny, the layout all seemed very familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She knew this design from somewhere!

It was not until Oxo told her to stop and walked forward another twenty or so feet and stopped himself, directly in her line of vision, and turned to face her that she finally remembered.

"A duel arena!" she exclaimed aloud, "this is why this room seems so familiar! It's the exact layout of a standing duel arena!"

"Very good, young one," Oxo commented, raising his left arm slightly and bending it at the elbow and Destiny watched wide-eyed as a sandy-brown coloured, gold-plated duel disk appeared on his arm, a blood red stone embedded into its centre.

So surprised at the magical appearance of Oxo's duel disk, Destiny hardly noticed when a familiar weight tugged on her own arm. Reflexively she glanced downward to see own custom duel disk attached to the limb. She raised it only to see that her deck was already in place. Just to check that it was, in fact, her deck she drew the first card. White Magician of Fate. Her gaze flicked back to Oxo, who was watching her with unblinking black eyes. Eyeing him warily, she cocked a single black eyebrow.

"You want to duel me?" she asked, both cautious and amused at the same time. It seemed strange to her that Oxo would want to duel – could ancient high priests even duel, anyway? – yet, though she refused to admit it, Oxo intimidated her. She had no idea of exactly what he was capable of.

Oxo simply nodded. "It is compulsory if your soul is to be judged."

At the mention of Soul Judgement Destiny's skin prickled as the hairs on her arms and legs stood on end and a shiver travelled down her spine. She suddenly became aware of how cold it was, it was night after all and her skimpy pyjamas didn't exactly help.

"Are you ready?" he asked, though she was almost certain that he would start the duel even if she said she wasn't. His fingers were twitching in anticipation. This Soul Judgement thing was probably the main reason she'd been brought here – why else?

Either that or Oxo was _really _desperate to get rid of her.

Slowly, she slid White Magician back into her deck and let the duel disk do the shuffling. Once it was does she raised her head so that she could meet Oxo's black gaze with her sapphire.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She stilled herself and moved into an offensive position, raising her duel disk and narrowing her eyes as the priest inclined his head in acknowledgement. Simultaneously, they activated their duel disks.

"DUEL!"

**Destiny: 4000LP**

**Oxo: 4000LP**

"Ladies first!" Destiny announced, drawing the top five cards from her deck and smirked, slamming one card down onto the duel disk. "I play the Foolish Mortal in attack mode **(AKT: 600 DEF: 500) **and the Tree of Forbidden Fruit also in attack mode!" **(AKT: 500 DEF: 1000)**

She paused to watch her two monsters appear on her side of the field. The Foolish Mortal really wasn't that pretty a sight and it wasn't a card she played often. Basically it was a man, strong and bearded with rich tanned skinned wearing nothing but a leafy loincloth – Adam. His counterpart, the Tempted Mortal - Eve - was hidden somewhere in her deck and would be arriving to join her mate soon – for with Adam there was always Eve. She folded her arms as, thanks to the Foolish Mortal's special effect she was summoned to the field. The second card she had summoned, however, was nothing like the first (or its partner that had automatically appeared with it), a tree, perhaps only a foot or two taller than Destiny herself bearing plump, ripe red and gold fruit that almost seemed to glow. It did, even Destiny had to admit, look rather tempting.

She had never given much thought to religion, she had only ever set foot in a holy place a few times in all her almost fourteen years. But she had to admit, despite her disinterest in religious matters, bible stories and other holy tales intrigued her.

Bringing her mind back to the duel (she couldn't afford to go a tangent, never during a duel and definitely not during one where her soul was the stakes). Glancing at Oxo's impassive face, she felt another self-confident smirk tug at her lips.

"And of course my tasty little tree so I'm assuming you know what that means, right?" Destiny didn't even bother to look at Oxo, knowing that his impassive mask would still be perfectly in place, and instead raised her head to watch as the tree was lifted from where it had planted itself, roots and all, and was soon joined by the Foolish and Tempted Mortals, disappearing to be replaced by seven tiny stars, "Synchro Summon! Purveyor of Darkness, the Serpent of Cunning!" **(AKT: 2300 DEF: 2000)**

With a hiss a massive dark green, almost black, cobra appeared – it was the exact length of a fully-grown anaconda, twice as thick and three times as menacing. Hissing furiously, it rose from the ground, arching and flattening its neck, its forked tongue slipping in and out of its mouth and its piercing red eyes flitting threateningly across the room. It was a creature that you could imagine seeing in a child's nightmare, such a dark and cruel beast should never be seen anywhere apart from hell; it even scared Destiny to look it directly in the eye. Oxo, however, did not appeared at all fazed, he merely regarded the Purveyor of Darkness and its mistress coolly.

"Quite the beast, my lady, though, I must admit that I am intrigued. Why are you playing with such a dark creature when you're soul is about to be judged? And, believe me, I can feel the darkness radiating off that beast."

Destiny froze, the colour draining from her face and the smirk wiped away with it. Would using her dark monsters over her light ones have an effect on the outcome of her soul's judgement? Would she be condemned as evil? She did not believe herself to be evil, not thoroughly at least. She would do bad things, had done bad things, but only if there was a reason behind them – something that would make things better; like all the things she had done to bring her mother back home. That was all for a good cause, right? Everything was better with Akiza back, wasn't it? Obviously noting her distress, Oxo motioned with his hand, "continue, child. It is still your turn."

"Uh, right," Destiny responded, pushing all her doubts to the back of her mind, she just needed to concentrate right now, she could mull things over later, "Purveyor of Darkness can't attack on the turn its summoned so I'll play a face-down and end my turn."

Oxo, as it turned out, was much better than she had expected, even though she had had no idea what to expect but it turned out that he was exceptional duellist, something made even more impressive by the fact that he was the five thousand-year-old priest of a long lost pre-Incan civilisation, and quickly had her on the defensive, her Purveyor of Darkness was already destroyed within two turns and she found herself relying desperately on the darker side of her deck.

**Destiny: 600LP**

**Oxo: 2400LP**

She also felt stupid for completely disregarding the very first rule of duelling that her father had ever taught her: never underestimate your opponent. If only this was a turbo duel – she'd bet anything that the old codger couldn't ride a motorbike to save his life never mind duel at the same time. Feeling one corner of her mouth twitch upwards at this thought, she found the strength to draw once again and, after a lot of strategizing and hits from Oxo, was finally able to summon Dark Destiny Dragon. **(AKT: 3000 DEF: 2100)**

**Destiny: 100LP**

**Oxo: 2000LP**

But this appeared to be the moment that Oxo had been waiting for, as when she moved to attack he suddenly activated an unknown trap card, one that Destiny had never seen before (mind you, she hadn't seen or even heard of most of Oxo's deck before) and Dark Destiny's attack was negated and Destiny was hit by a sudden, harsh gust of energy, knocking the wind out of her and bringing her to her knees, her lifepoints falling to one.

That was when he did it.

It was too fast for Destiny to even recall what happened, only that while she was down Oxo immediately activated one of his face-downs; a strange card that instead of being rimmed by orange for monster cards, purple for traps, green for magic cards of silver/white for Synchro Monsters this card was rimmed by black and the ancient priest's voice ringing in her ears.

"SOUL JUDGEMENT!"

Everything happened quickly then. Out of the card sprang dark shadows that crept wickedly towards her and she was frozen, unable to escape them. She couldn't make out what they looked like, only that they flitted about the room, coming towards her and then, finally, before she could stop them, they slipped inside her mouth.

That was when the pain started; it felt like she was being torn up inside, like something was being ripped out of her, and her entire life – all her lives – flashed before her eyes. Both the good lives; standing amongst Signers after having saved the world, basking in the bright light of peace and happiness, and the bad; darkness, a place reeking of blood and death, standing on the remains of a battlefield, no, a massacre, and then… nothing.

* * *

To someone watching the scene from the outside it would appear that Destiny was simply gone. Her body still breathing, her heart still beating but at the same time not truly alive. Every one of her six marks glowing with an eerie crimson light and her eyes also illuminated by the same light.

What appeared to be a pair of scales stood proud in the centre of the chamber: one side gold and adorned with rubies and garnets, representing light and goodness, the other side silver, adorned with onyx and obsidian representing the opposite, darkness. Towards these scales floated what appeared to be a ball of crimson fire, flecked with gold, silver and even black, guided to its destination by the very shadows that had stolen it from its body. When it reached the scales it began to split, tearing itself apart and you could almost hear the soul's screams of pain and anguish. Once parted, the two halves travelled in different directions, one towards the gold side and the other towards the silver. That was when the dragons appeared.

They were familiar dragons; the two halves of the beast closest to the Crimson Vessel's heart, the other half of her and as the two halves of her soul weighed themselves to find which was stronger, the two dragons did vicious battle. All this time, a tall, dark-skinned man watched patiently; High Priest Oxocoatl waited to see who had one the battle for his deity's soul, which path she would take.

In the end, Red Destiny finally bit down hard, sinking its teeth into Dark Destiny's long neck and the latter disappeared just as the gold side of the scales' balances dropped heavier.

Light had won. This battle at least. There was still one more to go.

* * *

When Destiny's vision returned she found herself still kneeling on the chamber floor, staring up at Oxo who stood straight with a tiny smile on his face.

"Is it over?" she croaked.

"Your judgement is," he replied, then he held up his arm, which still held his duel disk, "but the duel is not."

**Destiny: 1LP**

**Oxo: 2000LP**

Realising what had to be done, Destiny rose shakily to her feet and steeled herself, drawing a card. She licked her lips and gave a small, shaky smile, revealing the identity of the card to Oxo.

"Destroyer of Fates," she announced quietly, "which allows me to destroy any field, equip, spell or trap card on either side of the field," she paused and took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do, she had passed the test but she had yet to finalise the result, this card would do just that, "I destroy Down the Dark Path, ridding the field of the plague that is Dark Destiny and freeing my beast of its bonds, revel in light! Red Destiny Dragon!" **(AKT: 2500 DEF: 2100)**

This time Oxo actually grinned as Destiny turned her beast on him, and she grinned as well, glad that she had passed but also happy that the duel was finally going her way – she had a reputation to uphold after all.

"Red Destiny Dragon, Divine Flare!"

**Destiny: 1LP**

**Oxo: 0LP**

* * *

**EchoGirl: Zzz... How... Zzz... Interesting...**

**Goldfish: Zzz...**

**EchoGirl: Review... Zzz... Reviews are... good... please...**

**Goldfish: Zzz... World domination...**


	50. The Card That Exudes Evil

**EchoGirl: Whoa. 50 chapters - not particularly long ones but 50 chapters nonetheless. This story has gone a _lot _further than expected.**

**Goldfish: I can tell. You're gawking at the screen like a tuna that's just run into a glass wall.**

**EchoGirl: Are you... making fun of fish? Your own species?**

**Goldfish: *rolls eyes* No, I was making fun of tuna. If I was making fun of my own species I'd be making fun of goldfish.**

**EchoGirl: Um, okay. Disclaimer?**

**Goldfish: Sigh. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**

* * *

**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 49**

There was silence for a few moments where the two duellists simply stared at each other, Destiny still breathless and recovering from her Soul Judgement; Oxo had been right – it was most certainly not a pleasant experience, she still felt rather torn up on the inside but she stood tall and proud nonetheless, the victor of the duel. Glancing down, she watched her duel disk retract to its standard position as Red Destiny Dragon slowly vanished in front of her.

"Well, that was… interesting," she commented idly, breaking the awkward silence.

There was no evidence that there had ever been a smile on Oxo's face, much less a grin, his face having reverted back to his usual frown (Destiny swore that it was permanent, even when he had smiled he still had those creases between his eyes and on his forehead). His only response, his only form of acknowledgement, was to incline his head very slightly in her direction.

Honestly, the people in her dreams had practically no manners.

"Indeed."

"So, uh," Destiny tapped her foot awkwardly on the cold stone floor (boy was she freezing, if this wasn't a dream she'd probably have caught a cold or worse; she was standing in the middle of an ancient temple on a floating rock about a mile in the sky and it was the middle of the night and she was only wearing summer pyjamas, she _cold, _damn it!). "Now what?"

"Now this," Oxo replied simply, taking a card out of his deck and throwing it at her unexpectedly.

Taken by surprise, Destiny only just managed to snatch the card out of the air before it collided with her. She glared at the high priest.

"Hey, watch it! Do you have any idea how dangerous these things are? You could have taken my eye out! At least give me some warning next time."

Oxo shrugged, "As you wish. Watch out."

He promptly threw another card at her which Destiny missed as she was already holding one card and had a duel disk on her other arm, so it sliced across the back of her hand, giving her a rather nasty looking paper cut.

**(AN: You've seen what some of the characters do with their cards – those things are bloody murder weapons!)**

"Ouch!" Destiny exclaimed, bending down to pick up the stray card, muttering a few profanities at the same time. Straightening up again she looked at the two cards in her hand.

One was Soul Judgement, and the other Destiny didn't recognise – Oxo hadn't used it in their duel and she had never seen it anywhere else but she presumed that it was somehow linked to Soul Judgement; it had the same black rim, yet it exuded a certain aura of darkness, much like that of Down the Dark Path and Dark Destiny Dragon, yet even stronger. It was frightening actually. The Sentence of the Unforgivable.

"You feel it?" Oxo asked her, his dark eyes gleaming in the orange light given off by the torches, "the darkness within that card? Does it not cry out to you, begging to be released? Can you hear, _feel_ the voices within?"

Feeling slightly creeped out and more than a little disturbed, Destiny concentrated hard on the card for a moment and realised that she could indeed hear, no feel, what the card, what was inside the card, wanted; it's pleas were not spoken or whispered but she could feel its desire touching her heart.

"Do not concentrate on it for long," Oxo's voice brought her back and her eyes snapped up to meet his.

"I can feel it," she murmured almost inaudibly.

"Be careful," he warned her, "and never let those cards fall into the wrong hands and never use them for the wrong reasons. You may be the Crimson Vessel, but in your mortal form, without the wisdom and divinity of your true form, you cannot even fathom the power of those cards."

"Then why are you giving them to me?" she demanded, "what am I suppose to do with them? How do I even use them, if I'm _allowed _that is?"

Oxo merely looked down at her, his eyes shining with an unidentifiable emotion. "When you need them, and the time is right, you will know."

_Wow. Like that's a big help. They should call you the high priest of riddles._

All of a sudden she felt impossibly tired; her eyelids were drooping and her vision was going dark and fuzzy and she could barely stand on her own two feet.

"Oxo…" she muttered, fighting against the wave of exhaustion that had suddenly come over her, stumbling forward towards him in a clumsy attempt to keep her balance. With an unsteady hand she shoved the two cards into the deck holder in her duel disk where they sat at the top of the pile.

"Goodbye, Crimson Vessel. 'Til we meet again," were the last words that came out of Oxo's mouth before everything spun and Destiny's world went black.

* * *

Destiny woke with a start, her eyes flying open as she propelled her upper body forward into a sitting position, gripping the sheets around her tightly. She squinted in the darkness, it was still nighttime, perhaps one or two in the early morning. Immediately she felt a smooth hand on hers. She could just make out two familiar silhouettes around her bed.

"Shh," a feminine voice hushed her, "Destiny, are you alright?"

"Mom?" she croaked, "Dad?"

"We're here, Destiny," Akiza's voice confirmed.

"You sounded like you were having a nightmare," Yusei added.

"Not exactly," Destiny offered a sheepish smile, Oxo's words still ringing in her ears. Had that actually happened? Or was it just her imagination running wild? She'd certainly never dreamed something like _that _up before.

"You sure?" Yusei asked, "you kept muttering something, then you went completely still. You were hardly breathing."

"I wasn't?" she asked, perplexed. Could that have been the Soul Judgement that had done that? She certainly did feel a little strange on the inside.

"Yes," Akiza told her, tracing soothing patterns on the back of her hand; "we were really worried. Then you suddenly had some sort of crazy arm spasm and hit your father in the face."

"Really?" Destiny only just managed to stifle a chuckle at the thought. Perhaps her final draw _had _been a bit dramatic; though she would never have suspected her sleeping body to physically assault her father while her mind was in… well, she had no idea where her mind had been. Somewhere on a floating rock. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's fine," Yusei replied, rubbing his cheek. He looked down at her. Nothing particularly bad could have happened in this dream, not like during her coma. It had been incredibly painful for him to watch her thrash about on that hospital bed, her face contorted and her unable to wake up; and he hadn't been able to do anything about it. He'd helped lots of people in the past, inspired them, even if it hadn't been his intention, but then, when Destiny needed help, he couldn't help her – not on his own at least. He finally understood Hideo's desperation when Akiza had been in a coma, reduced to begging.

Hesitantly, Akiza reached out and stroked her daughter's cheek. "Get some sleep," she told her, "you have school tomorrow."

Nodding, Destiny lay back against the pillows.

"Okay," she said, wrapping the duvet around herself, "g'night. Or should I say morning?"

"Both, I guess. Sleep well." Akiza replied, getting up from where she was sitting on Destiny's bed and taking Yusei's hand, leading him out of the room, Destiny watching them as left; her eyes having adjusted to the darkness.

Once they were gone Destiny immediately sat up and looked over to the bedside table were her deck lay, virtually untouched. After a moment's hesitation she reached over a took the top two cards off the pile. She had to be sure of whether or not it was just a dream.

And there they where, looking just as they had in the dream with that strange, unique black rim.

Soul Judgement and Sentence of the Unforgivable.

She frowned, remembering what Oxo had said about the cards, what they were capable of.

"_You may be the Crimson Vessel, but in your mortal form, without the wisdom and divinity of your true form, you cannot even fathom the power of those cards."_

What had he meant by that? Why was she given these cards? The ability to judge the balance of a soul, why would she need that? And what did Sentence of the Unforgivable – which practically reeked of darkness – even do?

_Bloody priest, _she cursed mentally, _doesn't tell you anything._

Sighing, she returned the two mysterious cards back to her deck and lay back down, half burying her face in the pillow. She would have time to think about this in the morning, and maybe discuss it with the others, for now, however, she would just get some rest; hell knows, she needed it.

The last conscious thought she had before her mind drifted away was the hopeful thought that Sayer wouldn't try to break into her house (yet, at least), and she smirked slightly as her fingers closed around the mallet beside her pillow; it was a wonder her parents hadn't seen it.

But for now she let sleep take away her worries. Life-altering experiences, impossibly complex explanations, crazy homicidal psychics and freaking soul judging cards could all wait until tomorrow.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well, that's the entire dream sequence over; I hope you liked it and I'll try to have the next chapter up ASAP.**

**Goldfish: Yeah.**

**EchoGirl: Yup. Well, review.**

**Goldfish: Press the button that says Review Story/Chapter and I won't be required to blow up your neighbourhood.**

**EchoGirl: *facepalm***


	51. A Raven's Thoughts

**EchoGirl: Well, next chapter, hope you like it.**

**Goldfish: Can I blow something up?**

**EchoGirl: No.**

**Goldfish: Why not?**

**EchoGirl: 'Cause you need to do the disclaimer.**

**Goldfish: Fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**EchoGirl: Well, on with the chapter!**

**Goldfish: But what about my dynamite!**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 50**

At that particularly moment in time, Vanessa Hogan was not a girl you wanted to mess with. Her mood, this day, was undeniably foul.

Destiny was moping again. She'd been doing that a lot lately. And, quite frankly, the younger girl was sick of it. Sure, Destiny might be half the soul of a god but for Christ's sake did she have to mope around like a five-year-old? It was like she'd found out her mother was the Black Rose all over again.

With a sigh of exasperation, she lifted her head and glanced across the table. Yep, there she was; still staring down at her deck with that misty, half-thoughtful half-sulky expression. Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention to the three boys sharing the table with them. Jake was sitting motionless, deep in thought, a frown etched onto his handsome face as he rapped his fingers rhythmically against the table top; Chris was hurriedly scribbling onto a piece of paper, doing homework that was already three days past due date; Chris, well Chris was stuffing his face with whatever food it was the cafeteria had been offering that day (she didn't know how he was even able to do that, Vanessa wouldn't even go near that stuff, but then again, Chris' stomach was like a bottomless pit), not even bothering with the homework that he, like his twin, had failed to do. Vanessa knew that if Jake or Destiny were paying attention they would be checking there bags to see that they actually had their homework and that the little sneak that was Chris Kessler hadn't stolen, run off and photocopied it. That had happened on more than one occasion before.

All in all, the five youngsters were oblivious to the noise of hungry students that filled the Academy's cafeteria. All, apart from Vanessa it seemed, were locked in their own world.

And Destiny was sulking. Like a five-year-old. Again.

Finally, the illusion was broken when Destiny slammed her head down on the table and groaned loudly, jerking the others out of their stupors. Even Chris stopped shovelling endless amounts of school cafeteria mush into his mouth.

"Ugh! Why does Oxo have to be so bloody annoying and talk in riddles the whole time! Stupid high priest, stupid temple, stupid crazy rituals…"

Okay. Destiny had officially lost it.

Vanessa glanced around the table: everyone seemed to be thinking pretty much the same thing.

"Destiny," Jake began, folding his arms across his chest, "what the _hell _are you rambling about? You sound like a Class-A nutcase."

Of course, Destiny didn't appreciate his words of comfort. Stupid Atlases and their bluntness.

"Thanks," she replied sarcastically. For the first time Vanessa noticed the dark bags under her friend's eyes, just how tired Destiny really was.

"Look, Queenie," Mark said, "just tell us what's up."

Destiny glanced upwards and moaned, letting her head fall back onto her forearms. "The ceiling," she told the table.

Vanessa let out a small chuckle – even during her bad moments Destiny's wit never seemed to fail her.

"No, really," the young redhead pressed.

Destiny lifted her head from her arms and looked directly at Vanessa, blue eyes meeting green. "Dreams," she replied simply, "weird dreams that mean something that I can't interpret."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Destiny continued, "I met some weird priest of the Crimson Dragon who made me duel him so I could get my soul judged."

"_Oh." _Vanessa didn't need Destiny to go into any further detail. Things had changed ever since Destiny's duel with Sayer and she had gone into that coma. Discovering that one of your best friends was actually part of an ancient dragon deity that your father was a warrior for hadn't been easy but Vanessa understood that no matter how hard it was for her it must have been much harder for Destiny but she wanted her to know that, no matter what, she, Jake, Chris and Mark would be there for her. She didn't have to do it all alone, she would have help. Destiny didn't seem to realise this; it was a hero-complex thing that she had, and by the sounds of the stories of the Signer's adolescence, it ran in the family.

"Take a sleeping pill," Jake suggested, his voice and face impassive. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Hell knows, you could use it."

Destiny's eyes narrowed and she gave him a scathing look. "I don't do drugs."

That's what she always said but Vanessa knew better: Destiny couldn't swallow the tablets. That's why whenever she had a headache she never did anything about it; she had gotten herself into a worse state the last time she even tried, choking on paracetamol.

"How about alcohol?" Chris suggested, his mouth full of food. Everyone except Destiny (and Jake, because he hardly ever laughed) burst out laughing at that. Alcohol would _definitely _put Destiny to sleep, without a doubt.

Vanessa grinned widely as a certain memory came to mind. It had been at the opening night of some fancy tournament a few years back and, of course, all of Team 5D's had been invited. The place was very fancy and incredibly busy, but Vanessa couldn't remember anything clearly after that. It had, of course, been hardly a surprise to discover that the punch had been spiked. With something strong; Vanessa was almost positive that she had seen an empty bottle of vodka lying about somewhere. Anyway, she personally had only had a sip before deciding that it was disgusting and getting rid of it; Jake was alright due to his Atlas genes that allowed him to consume several glasses and not so much as stumble; Chris and Mark had begun running around the room believing they were duel runners while cursing at the top of their lungs and Destiny… well, let's just say it wasn't pretty. One glass and she was singing like a sailor, one and half and she was summoning duel monsters using her psychic powers while standing on a table with one foot in the turkey, holding a cooked lobster in one hand and by two glasses she was totally unconscious. Luckily Jack had personally confiscated all cameras, phones and such other items and drowning them in the punch as well as swearing every occupant of the room to secrecy. Destiny was lucky in that way – having Jack Atlas as a godfather had its perks.

"Please don't bring that up," Destiny groaned, the lightest shade of pink gracing her pale cheeks.

"Do even remember what happened?" Jake asked pointedly.

"Nope!" Chris laughed, "she just remembers the hangover the next day!"

"Hey!" Destiny exclaimed, but there was now a hint of laughter in her voice too, "it's not my fault I have zero alcohol tolerance!"

"But seriously," Vanessa said at last, bringing the conversation back to its original topic, "what happened in your dream that's got you so worked up?"

"What? Apart from getting my soul ripped out? I got two cards."

Jake raised a speculative blond eyebrow, "so this whacko nutjob priest gave you two cards?"

Destiny nodded her head in confirmation. "They were there when I woke up."

"Can we see?" Mark asked, genuinely curious.

"Sure," Destiny responded, taking two cards out of the breast pocket of her burgundy blazer and flipping them over so the others could see them.

Vanessa, for one, eyed them with a horrified kind of awe. They were the most intriguing cards she had ever seen; with a unique black rim, Soul Judgement and Sentence of the Unforgivable. There was something, she noticed, about the second card that just gave her the creeps and, judging by their reactions, her friends felt the same way.

"Weird," Jake muttered with a frown, leaning back on chair.

What happened next was strange to all four of them; Destiny suddenly seemed to space out, like she had just gone into a daydream, her eyes went wide and glassy and she took on a bewildered sort of expression and began shaking uncontrollably. It was over in seconds and she shook her head wildly, as if trying to relieve herself from a nightmare.

"What was _that?" _Mark asked, only just managing to swallow the mouthful of roll that he had taken from his twin's tray.

Destiny frowned as she looked at them, though her mind appeared to be elsewhere. "I just had a flashback," she murmured.

"Really?" Chris asked, "did you finally remember what day of the week it was when you had that duel runner accident and almost fell off the Daedalus Bridge?"

A collective shudder passed around the table at the elder Kessler twin's comment. No one liked to remember the day that the runner Destiny had been practising on had taken a nasty skid on the bridge connected New Domino from the Satellite that had almost sent the girl (nine years old at the time) tumbling into the sea.

"No," Destiny replied softly, still looking distant, "it was a memory from one of my past lives…"

"And…?" Vanessa prompted.

"Did you know that one of my lives in the sixteenth century was accused of being a witch and was burned at the stake?"

Silence followed for a few moments before Destiny shook her head once more, her eyes once again clearing and seemingly coming out of her trance. It was Chris that broke the silence.

"Well, that's it. Our Destiny has officially gone round the bend. Here, Queenie," he pulled something out from his blazer pocket and launched it across the table towards her, "think fast!"

Reflexively, Destiny snatched it out of the air and looked at the round, squashy blue object in her hand, her face a mixture of offence and confusion. "Chris, this is a stress ball."

"Exactly," the silver-haired boy replied, "you looked like you could do with it."

"And where did you get it from exactly?" Jake drawled and Vanessa almost feared the answer.

"Nicked it from Heitmann's office," Chris replied with a shrug, "he won't notice it's gone, he's got about a hundred of 'em. Not much of a surprise when you think of his temper."

Even Destiny couldn't suppress a snicker at the boy's words but Jake merely eyed him distastefully.

"You strange, twisted little boy."

Chris shrugged, a smile playing on his lips, "that's my middle name."

"I thought your middle name was Bartholomew."

"Don't you dare," Chris warned.

"Christopher Bartholomew Kessler. It has a rather nice ring to it if you ask me."

"Shut up, Atlas."

Mark snickered loudly.

"And don't think I've forgotten you," Jake snapped at him, "Markus Wulfric-Howard Kessler."

Everyone laughed at this.

"I hate mom," Mark muttered.

"I am in complete agreement," Chris crossed his arms. They waited until Destiny, Jake and Vanessa had finally regained the ability to speak.

"Now, Queenie," Chris instructed slowly, as if speaking to a very young child, "just take out all your inner stress and anxiety on the ball."

Vanessa watched, ever-so-slightly concerned as the blue ball turned to a pulp inside Destiny's fist. After a few moments the dark-haired duellist stopped.

"It's not working!" she whined, before very slowly a malevolent grin crossed her features. With a speed that surprised almost all the youths sitting at the table, she hurled the ball at directly at Chris striking him right in the centre of the forehead. He sat bewildered for a couple of seconds with his mouth gaping open, looking somewhat akin to a fish as the entire table burst out into hysterical laughter, drawing odd looks from their fellow students.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny, Queenie."

There never seemed to be a boring day at Duel Academy.

* * *

**EchoGirl: Well, review.**

**Goldfish: Echo, where's my dynamite?**

**EchoGirl: You really think that I'm crazy enough to let you have dynamite?**

**Goldfish: You did last week.**

**EchoGirl: And I am mentally scarred for life.**

**Goldfish: Please?**

**EchoGirl: No.**

**Goldfish: Pretty please with a cherry on top?**

**EchoGirl: No.**

**Goldfish: DAMNIT I WANT MY DYNAMTE!**


	52. Wake Up and Get a Grip

**Echo: Hey, I'm finally back, sorry about the long wait. Well, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. It's basically just a whole load of Jake/Destiny, since some people have been commenting on their relationship and asking for a few more scenes with them.**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**Echo: Wow. Not a single complaint.**

**Goldfish: Don't push it.**

**

* * *

**

A Rose in the Stars

**Chapter 51**

Destiny hugged her arms into herself as she glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky, a spittle of rain hitting the tip of her nose as she did so. It hadn't rained in a while, she noted absentmindedly as she focused her attention once again on the academy's turbo duelling track, even the sun, it appeared, needed a break sometime.

She sighed and pulled the two cards that the high priest of the Dragon Star, Oxocoatl (or Oxo as Destiny had so fondly nick-named him; Oxocoatl could be rather hard to get your tongue around if you had never heard it before) out of the breast pocket of her burgundy blazer and eyed them curiously. Soul Judgement and Sentence of the Unforgivable. What where they for? Why was she given them?

She hadn't shown them to her parents yet, for the simple reason of having to explain where she got them from. She herself didn't really know except that they were a present from some ancient Crimson Dragon dude because she beat him in a duel while having her soul ripped out and put back in, all in one very realistic dream. When she had woken up the next morning, she had even discovered that she actually had the cut on her foot, bruise on her knee and papercut on her hand from the dream. It wasn't like they would think that she was mentally unhinged or anything but she didn't really want to tell them about it quite yet. They were already worried, what will all the whole 'Sayer's alive' crisis going on.

Not that Destiny usually had crazy dreams where she acquired wounds that seemed to magically appear on her body the next day, no her usual dreams mostly consisted of her whacking Sayer repeatedly over the head with a frying pan.

Sighing again, she returned the two cards to her pocket and glanced again at the track. The rain was steadily getting heavier now and most of the eager aspiring turbo duellists who were practising and training for their license were packing it in. School was over and almost everyone had gone home; Vanessa had to pick up her brother and Chris and Mark had gone with her. Destiny had wanted to stay a bit longer at school before heading home ('to mull over the recent crazy turns her life had taken', she called it or 'to wallow in isolation and self-pity' as Vanessa called it. She supposed that, in a way, both were true) and Jake had volunteered to stay with her, something that had not gone unnoticed by the other three.

"Aren't you cold?" a male voice asked from behind and she could here footsteps approaching, the soles of shoes making faint squelching noises against the wet grass. She didn't turn around.

"I'm fine," she replied, the wind and rain whipping at her face and hair. She glanced up at the sky, "it's starting to clear up anyway."

"You're soaking," Jake commented as he came up to stand beside her, his bag slipping off his shoulder and landing with an unceremonious thud on the damp ground. Destiny turned her head to look at him. He really was the spitting image of Jack, albeit almost twenty-two years younger, with his spiky golden hair that somehow reminded her of a crown and porcelain skin and dark amethyst eyes that burned with such fire and determination that she swore they somehow pierced her soul. But there was a gentleness in them now, something seen only very rarely, sometimes she saw Jack look at Carly and it was at times like those that Destiny understood why the women who loved Jack did (really, the guy had an impossible personality, not to mention that crazy god-complex of his and the coffee and cup ramen obsession), it made everything that made everything that made Jack and Jake's features so cold and harsh disappear. Secretly, she believed that that look affected her even more than Soul Judgement had.

Pushing her sopping wet bangs out of her face, she offered him a sheepish half-smile. "No point in denying it, huh? Okay, maybe I am a little bit cold."

He snorted in response and she watched him intently. He met her gaze unflinchingly and they stood there in silence for a moment. The rain had almost completely stopped now but both teens were soaked to the bone. Good thing it was Friday, their uniforms would probably take longer than just one night to dry.

Jake was the first to break away, turning his amethyst gaze instead to the view Destiny had originally been taking in.

"What's so interesting about an empty turbo track?" he asked, not looking at her.

"Nothing," she responded with shrug, sinking down slowly so that she was sitting on the wet grass, not bothering about the unseemly stain it would no doubt leave on her skirt. "It's a good place to think."

Jake glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You were sulking," he stated blunted. The Atlases never were once for subtlety.

"That's what Nessie said too," Destiny replied, "I just need some time to think things over, okay? My life is crazy."

"It's not just you who's affected by this, you know," Jake retorted, "we all are. Our parents, everyone. You're pretty inconsiderate sometimes, you only think about you. What about everyone else, huh? We _need _you."

"What are you talking about?" Destiny asked angrily, "you think I don't know this?"

"I know you don't," he told her, "and you should realise that you're not the only one in this whole thing. We're all involved. Your friends don't want to be pushed away. It affects us as much as it affects you."

"This is all Sayer's fault," she muttered; it was all his fault, all his bloody fault…

"Sayer was a power hungry, psychotic catalyst," Jake corrected, "it would've happened anyway."

Destiny turned pointedly away from him. She hated it when he started being logical. It was like he was accusing this whole issue of being her fault.

"Are you saying that I'm the one to blame for all this?" she demanded.

"No," he retorted, "just that you're being a self-absorbed prick about it!"

His words hit her hard and she tilted her head upward to stare at the clearing sky, inhaling deeply. "Everything was so much easier before," she whispered.

Jake sat down beside her, staring straight ahead, "maybe. But some good things came out of it. You got your mother back. Aren't you at least grateful for that?"

Destiny's head swivelled around to face him. "Of course I am! It's what I've always wanted – dreamed of!"

"Then appreciate it!" he told her, "maybe being the Crimson Vessel isn't a bad thing but you can't do it alone, Destiny. Let us in."

As his little speech sunk in, Destiny began to realise that he was right. She had, in fact, been building a wall around herself, blocking out everyone. Her friends, her newly reunited parents. Lifting her gaze to meet Jake's she smiled softly.

"How long did you practice that one in front of the mirror?" she teased.

Jake did not appreciate being teased. "Spur of the moment," he grunted.

Truth be told she was actually rather thankful that he had given her a cold but friendly lecture rather than the typical Atlas way of getting someone to stop moping – literally knocking some sense into them. For once she was grateful for her gender, if she was a guy Jake probably would've gone ahead with the whole traditional Atlas 'wake up and get a grip' method.

"Thank you," she said genuinely.

He didn't respond but she was almost positive that she saw him roll his eyes.

"How does staring at an empty turbo duelling track help you think."

"Just watching the runners racing round, it's almost hypnotising in a way. And it's rather funny to see them crash. I can't wait 'til we get our licenses."

"We'll finally get Trudge off our backs," Jake agreed.

"Look!" Destiny pointed at the sky, "a rainbow!"

"And…?"

"There's suppose to be a pot of gold at the end."

"What are you? Five? Why should there be a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow? It's just myth."

"You've got the imagination of a mushroom," Destiny huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. "You'll grow up into the kind of guy that ruins childhoods by telling little kids that Santa doesn't exist." She sighed, "father like son, I guess."

Jake shrugged non-committedly and Destiny rolled her eyes. Suddenly an idea struck her and she grinned mischievously.

"Hey, remember that game we used to play when we were younger? The one where we'd roll down the hill and see who was stronger."

"I trounced you every time," Jake replied, "you don't seriously want to roll down a hill though, do you?"

"Why not?"

"The school has security cameras, you know."

"And?"

"Fine," Jake said, "roll down a hill if you want and risk the entire student body seeing the recording. Destiny Fudo laughing like a maniac rolling down a hill. They'll start comparing you to that girl who escaped the loony bin spouting some crap about goldfish taking over the world."

"Why would they compare me to her? Besides, it wouldn't just be Destiny Fudo laughing like a maniac while rolling down a hill. It would be Destiny Fudo and Jake Atlas."

And before Jake could protest, she grabbed the lapels of his blazer and rolled them both over so they went tumbling down the hill. Destiny laughed and Jake scowled as they down the hill, wrapped around each other so as to stay together. They eventually came to a stop, Jake was on his back with Destiny half-straddling half-hovering over him, her long hair acting as a curtain as her face bent over his.

"I win!" she crowed.

Not taking being beaten lightly, Jake took advantage of Destiny's diverted attention (internally celebrating her win against Jake in a game normally won by him that they hadn't played in at least five years) and flipped them over so that he was on top of her.

"No," he breathed in her ear, "I do."

They were silent for a few moments, realising there position; him on top of her, her hair spread across the wet ground, the black and violet contrasting sharply with the vivid green grass, their foreheads almost touching. Destiny's breath came out in slow, uneven rasps, suddenly their close proximity was different from how it had been when they were younger and the thickness of the tension in the air was choking her yet neither made an attempt to move, then…

"Well, well, well, isn't this quite the little romantic scene?"

* * *

**Echo: Hm, can't say this was my best chapter...**

**Goldfish: Hey, you put us in this chapter! Well, mentions of us. Or technically a mention of you mentioning me and yes, I do believe you belong in a loony bin.**

**Echo: Gee. Thanks.**

**Goldfish: You're welcome.**

**Echo: You're annoying.**

**Goldfish: And you are a _real pleasure _to live with.**

**Echo: Tha- wait, are you being sarcastic?**

**Goldfish: (sarcastically) What do you think?**

**Echo: Sarcasm is the last resort of the imaginatively bankrupt, you know that?**

**Goldfish: You just used it yourself.**

**Echo: Shut up.**

**Goldfish: Cats are evil.**

**Echo: Cats are awesome. Review, please!**

**Goldfish: Do that.**


	53. Arcadia Strikes Again

Echo: _I'm alive!_

**Goldfish: Oh, really? We had absolutely no idea.**

**Echo: You always ruin my fun.**

**Goldfish: Quit being so dramatic all the time. It's completely unnecessary.**

**Echo: ... Killjoy.**

**Goldfish: Now I shall return to my plotting!**

**Echo: No shit, huh?**

**Goldfish: I shall take over the world!**

**Echo: With what? Cupcakes?**

**Goldfish: Muffins.**

**Echo: *bangs head on tabke***

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 52**

"_Well, well, well, isn't this quite the little romantic scene?"_

Jake and Destiny jerked away from each other like they'd been electrocuted. Destiny propped herself up onto her elbows, from there pushing herself up into a sitting position and her eyes widened as she glared at the new arrival.

"It's disgusting really," Chania continued, flicking her golden hair over her shoulder and glaring down at Destiny, "these are Academy grounds. Control the PDA, will you?"

"What?" Jake asked, standing up and brushing the grass of his blazer, "jealous, Chania?"

Chania flushed slightly and her glare hardened. She huffed hautily. "I don't see what you want with these two, officer. There's nothing interesting about them. But tell me; what's Fudo done this time?"

_Officer? _Destiny panicked, _please don't be Trudge, please don't be Trudge…_

"That's confidential information, Miss Deltoure, I'm afraid," answered a smooth voice that made Destiny's eyes widen in alarm and her heart deflate. What was _he _doing here?

"What are you–" she began but the 'officer' interrupted her.

"I need a word with you, Miss Fudo."

Chania chuckled and both Destiny and Jake shot her smouldering glares, the blonde, however, pain them no heed. "Great, I _need _to see this – Destiny Fudo getting an official ass-whooping."

"And I just _need _to see your dad get fired," Destiny retorted. Chania quieted immediately, a light blush blossoming on her cheeks, but her eyes still held a malicious amusement.

"_Alone," _the officer snapped and Chania jumped backwards, looking both shocked at the harshness of his voice and disappointed that she would miss the show. She brightened after a moment and skipped over to Jake, grabbing his sleeve and tugging him towards the Academy building.

"He said _alone," _she reminded him as she proceeded to drag him away as he shot her a 'what the hell is going on' look.

Destiny on the other hand was internally panicking. Jake obviously had no idea who this so-called officer was; otherwise he wouldn't have left her alone with him and now Chania was probably going to try dragging him into some abandoned janitor's closet. For some reason she didn't know, Destiny was more concerned (not to mention aggravated) with the latter. Slowly, she turned away from Chania and Jake's retreating forms to the disguised security officer who had somehow – with the help of a certain _someone – _entered Duel Academy grounds and was now going to make another attempt on her life. Destiny really hated Chania sometimes. Actually, scratch that, she hated Chania _all _the time.

"What do you want, Sayer?" she sighed, sounding a lot more relaxed than she felt.

"Oh," the velvet voice was back, "and I made so much of an effort trying to disguise myself."

"Then get a voice-changer," Destiny snapped.

Sayer pulled off his hat and swept the long, dirty strands of dark red hair out of his face, momentarily revealing the disfiguring scars on the upper-right area of his face that he had sustained during the Dark Signer attacking on Arcadia. Destiny only just repressed a shudder when she saw them. Sayer smiled malevolently at her expression.

"See what your parents' war did to me?"

"Hurt your pride, did it?" she mocked, "shame it didn't affect your ego as well. That head of yours could do with a good deflating."

"Insolent wretch!" Sayer hissed and Destiny laughed humourlessly.

"So why are you here, O vengeful one? You want to duel me? Finally take me down and have the revenge you've been waiting sixteen years for? Is that it?"

"And why would we duel here?" Sayer asked contemptuously.

"Because here you don't have your little toys that prevent you from getting hurt. And I want to see you hurt."

He snorted at her words and Destiny felt more than a little put out. "Now who's vengeful?"

"This isn't revenge," Destiny announced, glaring at him through narrowed cobalt eyes, "it's justice."

With that she turned heel and stormed up the hill, pushing her sopping wet bangs out of her eyes. The squelching of shoes upon the wet grass informed her that Sayer was following. She stopped in front of her schoolbag and bent down to reach inside, pulling out her duel disk and slipping it on her arm. She spun round to face Sayer.

"Duel me," she commanded, "now. Let's see who's more powerful."

"Very well," Sayer obliged, revealing his own duel disk already strapped to his left arm. Destiny snorted and removed her deck from her breast pocket inserting it into the designated slot, letting the duel disk shuffle. Both she and Sayer moved into offensive positions.

"DUEL!"

* * *

_**Fudo Residence…**_

"Where is she?" Akiza asked, directing the question more towards herself than anyone else.

"She's probably still at the Academy," Yusei sighed.

"But classes ended over two hours ago!"

"You used to spend time at the Academy after school," Yusei pointed out, "so did Leo and Luna, and their friends."

"I know but…" Akiza sighed and continued to pace, "they weren't in danger from a raving psychopath hell-bent on revenge."

Yusei couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of Akiza calling saying a raving psychopath considering the fact that in her youth she had practically worshipped him and had gone to the greatest lengths to defend him.

"I can't help but feel that something's happening," Akiza concluded, "that's she's in danger somehow."

Yusei cocked his head and looked at her. "How would you know that?"

She offered him a sad sort of half smile. "Call it mother intuition."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. Come on, I'll go get the runners ready. We can drive in by the training track where you got your license."

* * *

_**Duel Academy…**_

As Yusei and Akiza rode into the Duel Academy grounds via the track, they braked immediately at the sight of a familiar, very solid-looking, red and white dragon.

"Red Destiny," Yusei murmured, dismounting.

Akiza was still for a moment, speechless at the divine beauty of her daughter's ace monster, before also dismounting. The two hurried over to the scene of the duel and stopped dead as soon as they saw Destiny's opponent.

Akiza's breath hitched in her throat. She couldn't deny that she had been expecting this but it still came as a shock. Destiny was fighting Sayer. The very same Sayer whose green eyes shone with a crazed bloodlust. When she thought back to her youth, Akiza could almost laugh at her childish naïvity. How could she not have seen this man – monster – for what he really was? She felt Yusei comforting hand on her shoulder and she instinctively leaned into him but her brown eyes remained open, worriedly watching the duel. It was at that moment that she felt her former mentor's eyes upon her and glanced at him as his lips twitched upwards and malicious smirk stretching across his pale face. She twisted her head to look at Yusei; his face was grim.

They'd been spotted.

* * *

A cruel smirk played on Sayer's features as he turned his gaze back to Destiny rather than watch over her shoulder. "Looks like we have an audience."

Reflexively, Destiny spun around. Her parents were heading towards them. What were they doing here? She knew that Sayer wouldn't hesitate to hurt them, particularly her father, even if it was only to rile her up or simply distract her. She watched, panicked, as they kept moving towards them, only stopping when they were standing about twenty feet away from where she and Sayer were duelling.

"Well, if it isn't Yusei Fudo and his little slut." She noticed her father wrap a protective arm around her mother's waist and Akiza glare defiantly up at Sayer. "Akiza, I'm disappointed in you; coming back here to this pathetic excuse for a family. The Arcadia Movement is your family – I am your family, Akiza – not these… pathetic excuses for humans."

"Takes one to know one, Sayer," Destiny snapped at him while "don't be a hypocrite" sounded from her father, but Sayer's attention was focused completely on his violet-haired former protégée.

"You gave me a home when I needed one, Sayer," Akiza called back, "a family, too. People to turn to when things went wrong. For that I loved you. But it was all a lie. What I thought was a home and a family was really just a house filled with strangers! People using me and manipulating me for their own ends and you," at this her voice broke and her eyes shone with unshed tears, she pointed at him, "you were the biggest pretender of them all! I was just a broken child and you took advantage of my foolish naïvity, lured me in with your false kindness."

"Would you rather have starved?" Sayer yelled at her but Akiza ignored him.

"So don't you dare, don't you _dare, _say that I have a family in you! You made me weak–"

"I made you strong!"

"Ruthless, yes. Cruel, yes. A strong duellist. But mentally," he voice cracked again, and she grew quieter, "emotionally… you destroyed me. I forgot everything. The best piece of advice ever given to me was to think for myself," she glanced at Yusei, "not let people – you – think for me. You're not my family and if you hurt my daughter then God help you, Sayer…"

_Whoa. Talk about a verbal bashing. Go, Mom!_

Sayer turned away from the couple, his face an unhealthy shade of red.

"Hah," Destiny snickered, "sucker."

"Quiet, wretch!"

"At least call me 'Vessel'. It's better than this new nick-name you've come up with."

"There won't be a vessel for much longer," Sayer hissed, his eyes glinting with a maniacal gleam.

"No," Destiny retorted, like that glint hadn't frightened her, "they'll be a dragon. More specifically, a god dragon with a very big grudge."

Sayer simply cackled and Destiny took a deep breath, squaring her shoulder and mentally preparing herself for what she had to do. Sayer lifepoints were at one hundred, hers, she noticed, weren't doing much better but still, it was the fact that his were at one hundred that mattered. She glanced at the only face-down on her side of the field.

"Activate! _Soul Judgement!"_

**Echo: Cliff-hanger!**

**Goldfish: Again?**

**Echo: Uh-huh. Anyways, I'm really sorry for not updating for like, two weeks. I promise I'll have the next chapter up soon. I've just been really busy with school and what-not.**

**Goldfish: Mm-hm.**

**Echo: Well, review.**

**Goldfish: Yup. The more reviews their faster the next the chapter will be up. Don't ask me why - it's weird Echo logic.**

**Echo: And what amazing logic it is!**

**Goldfish: Hm.**

**Echo: Well, like I said, review!**

**Goldfish: Or I get dynamite!**

**Echo: That was never part of the bargain.**

**Goldfish: Is now.**

* * *


	54. The Judgement of Sayer

**Echo: Back again!**

**Goldfish: So we see.**

**Echo: With another chapter!**

**Goldfish: Obviously.**

**Echo: And I'm going to go now!**

**Goldfish: You do that.**

**Echo: By then!**

**Goldfish: Goodbye.**

**Echo: Do the disclaimer!**

**Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and never will.**

**Echo: Awesome!**

**Goldfish: Leave.**

**Echo: Meanie.**

**Goldfish: I thought you were leaving?**

**Echo: Nah. Not anymore.**

**Goldfish: _Damn._**

* * *

**A Rose in the Stars**

**Chapter 53**

"_Activate! _Soul Judgement_!"_

Destiny held her breath as the card activated, watching with wide eyes as Sayer's face twisted in confusion. That expression, as the shadows crept towards him, soon morphed into horror. His mouth gaped momentarily open and the shadows leapt, not missing an opportunity. The red-haired psychic gagged for a couple of seconds before growing disturbingly silent.

He looked like a statue; his body completely still and his eyes unnaturally wide and glassy-looking. Destiny was positive that around him she could see a very faint grey aura. Was this what her Soul Judgement had been like? Then, slowly, his mouth opened slightly and what could be mistaken for a silvery grey fireball (if that was possible) emerged from between his parted lips. A fabulously adorned pair of scales appeared in the middle of the field. All eyes (except Sayer's, of course) were on the grey fireball – the simplest form of Sayer's soul – as the very shadows that had stolen it guided it towards them.

Upon reaching its destination, the soul split. Half, the significantly larger half, went towards the side of the scales that was black and silver whilst the other smaller half floated towards the side that was red and gold. There was absolute silence from the spectators as, slowly, the scales began to judge the fate of Sayer's soul.

Several minutes later it appeared that a decision had been made. Agonisingly slowly, the darker balance began to drop and continued to do so until it was almost touching the ground. The judgement was complete. Darkness had won.

Still no one dared to speak. Taking a deep breath, Destiny bunched her trembling hands into fists by her sides.

"Judgement is complete." Her voice rang out loud and clear though Destiny was positive that the words were not her own. They came from somewhere deep within her soul. She heard Red Destiny growl in agreement behind her. "And within this soul darkness reigns supreme. Such evil must be punished. It is," she smirked, "unforgivable."

Her voice sounded ominous and frightening, even to her. Her arm lifted, not of her own accord, to her duel disk and her fingers closed around the top card of her deck. She drew back, card in hand and, without even looking, showed it to Sayer's glistening, evil grey soul.

"_Sentence of the Unforgivable!" _she yelled.

The object that appeared on the field was strange. It was like a giant hourglass carved from an ominous looking, shiny black substance. Within the actual glass was not sand but rather black, glistening fiery… things. They looked just like souls; ugly, black, trapped souls. And, even from her faraway distance, Destiny was positive that she could hear the screams and pleads to be set free.

The shadows materialised once more around Sayer's now black, judged soul, forcing it forwards towards the hourglass into which it was, with an ear-splitting screech, immediately absorbed. It was now in there somewhere, with all those other souls that had failed judgement. Then, as soon as they had appeared, all the holograms (or not holograms in this case) slowly disappeared. The duel was over. Only Sayer's empty body remained.

Destiny was breathing hard, the realisation of what she had just down only now dawning on her. Her duel disk disactivated. Feeling very weak all of a sudden, she stumbled clumsily forwards and would have fallen had her father not caught her at that precise moment. Akiza reached them only seconds later.

"Destiny, are you all right?" she asked as Yusei set her back on her feet. Destiny only nodded. Yusei glanced at Sayer, his body lifeless yet still breathing and standing.

"What about him?"

"He's not dead," Destiny informed them as soon as her voice returned, "but he's not really alive. You saw what happened. His body's still here, completely fine, but his soul's gone."

At her parents questioning looks, Destiny felt the need to explain further. "It's like a coma, but a permanent one." She cracked a small smile. "He's not coming back anytime soon."

"What do we do with the body though?" Akiza asked.

"Uh… stab it a few times, burn it, then dissolve the remains in acid?" she suggested. By the looks she received she took the answer to that option as a no. "Or we could just completely disintegrate it using psychic powers."

After a few moments of deciding, that was the conclusion they reached. Black Rose Dragon and Red Destiny Dragon were summoned respectively and Sayer's body was, quite simply, blown to smithereens. Not quite as amusing as seeing him get eaten by a giant lizard, but it did the job.

It was just after that that Jake returned to the scene, furiously wiping his mouth with his sleeve, muttering profanities as he stormed towards him.

"Did you beat Sayer yet?" he asked, scowling, as he reached them. Destiny frowned.

"You knew it was Sayer?"

"Course I did." He snapped. "What do you take me for? Some kind of retard?"

Destiny was about to ask him why he had left her alone if he'd known that it was Sayer when she noticed something that from far away she hadn't. The reason Jake had been so furiously scrubbing his face. Around his mouth was a sloppy pink smear. Instantly Destiny was on the offensive.

"Where did you get that?" she demanded.

"Chania," Jake spat out the name. "Skank just dragged me into a corner and planted one. She really needs to work on her seduction technique."

"And?" Destiny pressed. "You liked it?"

"Hardly," he replied distastefully. "I don't consider myself a lady-basher but she's unconscious right now."

"Good."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Fabulous. I've just escaped one hormonal teenaged girl to find myself with another."

Destiny scowled and whacked his arm. "Shut up."

It was at this point that Akiza decided to intervene.

"There's four of us," she pointed at the duel runners that were parked on the track, "and two of them. How exactly are we suppose to get back."

"Simple," Yusei replied, "either I take mine and you take yours and Destiny or Jake is on the back of each or you come on mine and Destiny and Jake can ride together."

Just as Akiza opened her mouth to respond Jake interrupted with one very important announcement.

"There is no way I'm riding bitch. With anyone."

"Lose your masculinity, will you?" Destiny taunted, smirking. Jake just glared at her with piercing violet eyes.

"Fine," Yusei said. "Akiza can ride with me and Destiny can ride with Jake."

Akiza looked like she was about to protest but thought better of it. Instead she simply glowered at the tall blond boy who would be riding on her runner in very close body contact with her daughter.

"One of you is going to have to ride without a helmet," Yusei warned them as they walked back along the grass towards the track, "so be very careful."

"Jake can do it," Destiny informed him. "Not even concrete can pierce that thick skull of his."

As the four of them rode off into the sunset, heading towards home, Destiny briefly wondered, as she rested the side of her helmeted head against Jake's back, that since one adventure was over, when would the next begin?

* * *

**Echo: Whoo! That was the last actual chapter! Only the epilogue to go!**

**Goldfish: How interesting.**

**Echo: Then I can start on Through the Cosmos.**

**Goldfish: Excellent. Now just tell everyone to review and then we can go.**

**Echo: Review!**

**Goldfish: I second that! Now give me a cookie!**

**Echo: ... a... cookie...?**

**Goldfish: Filled with gunpowder! MWAHAHAHA!**

**Echo: WTF?**


	55. The Way Life Should Be

**Echo: Here it is! The epilogue!**

**Goldfish: Yawn. How interesting.**

**Echo: Very interesting. Now do the disclaimer!**

**Goldfish: Can't you do the disclaimer yourself for once?**

**Echo: No. It's your job.**

**Goldfish: Fine. EchoGirl319 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.**

**

* * *

****A Rose in the Stars**

**Epilogue**

It had only been two days yet it felt like a lifetime since Sayer had been defeated. Destiny could only hope that the psychotic rat didn't find some way to weasel himself out of the hourglass prison that was Sentence of the Unforgivable. Things were back to normal now; most things. Destiny couldn't have been happier: her mother was back; Chania had finally decided to back off for a while and the holidays were rapidly approaching. Not that she didn't love the time she spent at Duel Academy (excluding Chania and her cronies constant bitching) but a break was needed now and again. And, even better, the WRGP was set to begin next week. The only disappointment was that she wouldn't be competing. Maybe they'd let her make a guest appearance; she was the future queen of riding duels, after all, or, as the twins insisted on calling her, Queenie.

But – aside from all that – it was her birthday. She was, once again, a whole digit older than Jake and the twins. There was just something pleasing about being the oldest. And, when she'd wanted to do on this oh-so-special day, she'd insisted on coming here. The arcade or, more specifically, the roller skating rink.

When her mother had asked "why there?" Destiny had simply shrugged and replied "it's where you and Dad had your first date. According to Luna and Leo, at least."

So there they were, the whole of Team 5D's and family. Destiny watched amused as Bruno attempted to skate and failed rather miserably, a terror struck expression glued to his face as he pulled his way along, hanging onto the railing for dear life. Chris and Mark were skating around quite gracefully, side by side, and Destiny didn't fail to notice the water balloons that each were carrying. Vanessa was skating around the rink with the agility of a gymnast, skirting around and darting past groups of people. Crow was standing on the inside of the railing speaking with his wife on the other side, begging 'his sweet, lovely dove' to join him in a romantic skate around the rink. She eventually gave in. Carly was taking pictures with her beloved camera and occasionally glancing at the rink, more specifically at Crow and Emma, and then at Jack who took no notice, his trademark scowl still plastered on his face. He refused point blank to even set foot in the rink. Destiny had rolled her eyes at his announcement. How typically Jack.

Violet, Destiny noticed, was standing by the gate on her tiptoes with her slender little fingers wrapped tightly round the railing, her violet eyes just peeking over surveying the rink with a mixture of fear and excitement. Desperate to have a go, but deathly afraid of falling. The poor girl had inherited her mother's sense of balance. Jake stood close beside her, his expression almost identical to that of his father. Destiny grinned to herself and with fluid, graceful movements skated towards them and grabbed their hands (lucky they were already wearing the skates) and dragged them out onto the rink with her. Jake struggled to no avail but his sister laughed enthusiastically and moved with Destiny.

"Let go of me," Jake hissed when Destiny wouldn't relinquish her grip.

"Oh, come on, Jake!" his sister whined, trapping him with her puppy-dog eyed violet stare. "It's Queenie's birthday, have some fun!"

"Yeah, Jake," Destiny smirked in agreement, "quit being such a prick. It's my birthday."

Destiny's sapphire gaze Jake could handle but not his little sister's violet one. He melted. Violet really was the devil in disguise. Laughing, the dark-haired eight-year-old took the lead, taking Destiny and Jake with. The three of them slipped passed the other skaters, travelling like a caterpillar around the rink; Violet in front, then Destiny, then Jake, their hands all conjoined. After a while, Violet left Jake and Destiny to skate by together by themselves and went to join the twins (Chris and Mark) and Vanessa.

"Wow, Vi," Vanessa commented, watching Jake and Destiny, "you're an even better matchmaker than us."

Violet shrugged and took a water balloon that Chris offered her. "Not hard, Nessie. You guys suck at matchmaking."

"Thanks," Mark replied sarcastically and Violet shot him a dazzling smile before throwing her water balloon at him. It burst on impact, spraying both him and Chris.

"Destiny said sarcasm is the lowest form of wit," she reminded them.

"Then she's a hypocrite," Mark muttered, "she uses sarcasm all the time."

Violet snorted and turned back to Vanessa. Excluding herself, Vanessa was the only one of the currently gathered second generation that actually had a brain.

"They're idiots," she told the older girl.

Vanessa grinned back at her. "You definitely got that one right."

Violet smirked and Vanessa glanced at her, she had seen that expression too many times on the faces of the girl's father and brother.

"And I thought you were sweet like your mother," she commented dryly.

"I am." Violet replied, sweeping her dark hair over her shoulder and smiling brightly at the redhead. "But I've got Atlas genes too, you know. A perfect mixture."

Vanessa shuddered. "I'm afraid. Jake's an Atlas through and through, that's bad enough, but an adorable, clumsy little girl with the face of an angel and the mind of an Atlas? That's something to be terrified of."

Violet merely shot her another one of her angel-face dazzling smiles.

* * *

"Oh, they're adorable!" Carly squealed, snapping another picture of Destiny and Jake skating around the rink together. She was met by two sets of glaring eyes; one set amber, the other cold amethyst.

"What?" she asked. "It's true!"

Jack and Akiza both opened their mouths to retort but were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. They turned. Yusei was standing behind them carrying two pairs of roller skates. He tossed one pair, the red pair, at Akiza and proceeded to remove his boots and slip the blue ones onto his own feet.

"Uh… Yusei?" the violet-haired woman asked, confused.

"Well, come on," he urged, standing up again, "let's see if you can still do it."

"O-of course I can!"

"Oh, sure you can," Jack said sarcastically. Akiza spun round to face him.

"I can!" she announced, kicking off her own shoes and slipping her slender feet into the skates. She skidded forward the moment she tried to take a step, crashing into Yusei and almost knocking him over. He steadied her.

"Sorry," she murmured, blushing.

"Very impressive, Akiza," Jack told her, that edge of sarcasm in his voice stronger and sharper than before. Akiza glared at him before allowing Yusei to lead her onto the rink.

It turned out she was out of practice and she felt clumsy when she saw Yusei's easy manoeuvres and even more saw when she saw Destiny gracefully gliding about the rink with Jake, the two locked in conversation. Eventually though, she got back into it and was able to skate just as well as she had before. The whole situation was like déjà vu.

Destiny turned her head away from Jake to see her parents skating in the centre of the rink. Her father was holding her mother's hand, helping her maintain her balance. She smiled widely and skated over to join them.

"Hey," she greeted. They smiled back at her and returned the greeting. She skated around them a few times before returning to join Jake, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to where Chris, Mark, Vanessa and Violet were holding water balloons waiting for the unsuspecting older members of Team 5D's to pass by. She smiled when she reached them, taking a red water-filled balloon out of Chris' hand and ruffling Violet's hair.

This was the way life should be. Everyone together, laughing and playing, without a care in the world.

* * *

**Echo: And that's that. Wow, I can't believe I actually finished.**

**Goldfish: Neither can I.**

**Echo: And that this story's been so popular.**

**Goldfish: Hm.**

**Echo: Well, I guess I best get started on the sequel now.**

**Goldfish: You do that.**

**Echo: I hope you guys keep reading!**

**Goldfish: Uh-huh.**

**Echo: And now...**

**Goldfish: Dynamite?**

**Echo: No, not dynamite, you idiot!**

**Goldfish: Taking over the planet and forever inslaving the human race?**

**Echo: Is that all you ever think about?**

**Goldfish: Yup.**

**Echo: *face palm* I'm talking about the _other _****thing.**

******Goldfish: Oh! _That _****one.**

**********Echo: Yes!**

**********Goldfish: Okay.**

**********Echo: And now...**

**********Goldfish & Echo: REVIEW!**


	56. Through the Cosmos now up!

**Echo: Hey! No, this isn't a sudden spontaneous update. I just wanted to let everyone, who didn't already, know that the first few chapters of **_**Through the Cosmos**_** are now up.**

**Goldfish: People who want to should probably go read that.**

**Echo: Goldfish, don't be rude!**

**Goldfish: What? I was just saying.**

**Echo: *rolls eyes***

**Goldfish: *rolls eyes at Echo rolling eyes***

**Echo: Hey, quit it! It's freaky watching a goldfish roll its eyes!**

**Goldfish: *rolls eyes again***

**Echo: *sighs* I give up. You're impossible.**

**Goldfish: Excellent. Will you give me dynamite now.**

**Echo: Okay, sure– wait a sec! Stop trying to get dangerous explosives off of me? You'll blow up the house or something! And I was about to give them to you!**

**Goldfish: Damn. So close.**

**Echo: Well, anyway, check out Through the Cosmos and please review!**

**Goldfish: You're already asking people to review? Before they've even read it?**

**Echo: Shut it.**

**Goldfish: Only if you give me dynamite!**


End file.
